


Human in a world of monsters

by LittleMarimo



Category: Far Cry 3
Genre: A Pirates guide to wooing, Alcohol, Blackmail, Canon-Typical Violence, Consent is Sexy, Domestic Violence, Drugs, Emotional Manipulation, F/M, Former "she made an oops", Gunplay, Homophobic Language, Hugs, Human Trafficking, Made up drugs, Manipulation, Mistakes were made, Moral Struggle, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Obsession, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Poker, Poker Nights, Self-Doubt, Slavery, Slow Build, There is no good side, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Torture, We are all mad here, different POVs, drug making, finally some fluff, maybe nsfw?, mentions of rape/non-con, oxytocin is one hell of a drug, what makes us human, your best friends are youre family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:13:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 30
Words: 159,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23352247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleMarimo/pseuds/LittleMarimo
Summary: After two years of survial, Liz adapted to the chaotic life here on Rook.Living as a local, keeping a low profile and following her moral code.Until these very morals and her kindness lead to a decision, that changes everything.Will Liz be able to save her morals?Can she stay human?"You have the jungle in your Heart, Nena. Your soul, your blood. No? Nena, that's a special thing."The first few Chapters are a bit clonky to read, but it get's better. Had to find my stile first. :) Might rewrite or at least re-edit them when the story is finished.Plotploint changes are mostly around character deaths.
Relationships: Vaas Montenegro/Original Character(s), Vaas Montenegro/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 124
Kudos: 149





	1. Oops!

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: Some Parts of this Fanfiction are inspired by a LOT of different Far Cry 3 fanfics i read, on every website i could find them on, over the years. I dont want to copie any of them. I want to take my own spin on things. Many of them were unfortunatly never finished and i at some point just started mixing things from those fics together in my head. This story was the spit out. I would love to tag them here but i cant, for the life of me find them all.
> 
> Also:  
> The 3 OCs in this story speak some German from time to time. I will add an english translation behind every sentence (in here)  
> Or if its a longer conversation (i will tell you when it is all be the same.)

Florian, a 25 year old bald German man with a light brown, well kept full beard, was standing behind a Bar in Bad Town, giving out shots of cheap booze to a couple of Pirates.  
If you would have told him over 2 years ago, that instead of his usual job of a carpenter he would be doing this, he would have laughed and asked. "On what kind of Drugs are you right now?"  
But here he was. Living in this Kingdom of madness for nearly 2 years now.  
The Last Week plus a few days on the Rook Islands had been pretty chaotic. Well more chaotic than usual.  
At first there was a big rumor going around that Jason Brody had managed to kill Vaas. Then after like 2 Days all of a sudden some pirates talked about how he was not dead, just got badly wounded but is already back at commanding the pirates. Others claimed it was the other way around and Brody was dead.  
It was a mess. Bad Town was a place of Chaotic evil energy anyway but now it was just stress. What was true? What not? How did Broody manage to get into the Compound alone, take out a bunch of Pirates AND nearly killed Vaas?  
“Can't believe this shit. One fucking guy nearly took out everyone. One. Fucking. Guy!” one of the 2 pirates slammed his shot glass on the counter.  
“Man you weren't there.. He came out of nowhere! But our Boss once again proved he's just an unkillable beast. I saw the wounds, man.That was an ugly knife fight. I can't explain to myself how the fuck the Boss is still alive! Somehow the Doc showed up, even though none of us had a chance to call him yet. But it looks like Snow White didn't get away without a scratch ether. We followed the bloody tracks to a river. With the amount of blood in that shack and with the tracks, that fucker definitely got a few deep cuts too.”  
A Voice out of the radio, on ones belt, shouted some orders in Spanish.  
The Pirates finished their drinks and left the bar.  
An other man entered and Florian crept a Smile on his face.  
“Jonas! Was geht? (Whats up?)” They gave each other a sidewards High-Five followed by a Elbow-High-Five.  
The man before him was his best friend. Jonas. A 27 year old ex Mechatronik Technician now more what was kind of known as the “Car and Radio fix guy” of bad town. He was wearing his usual outfit of a black tank top and a light brown vest with t-shirt sleeves that he wore open. His dark brown to black hair and 3 days Beard kinda gave him a Chris pratt look. But he wouldn't tell him that.  
The Friends or more Brothers often build and crafted things together. Helped fix buildings and roofs.  
(the remaining conversations in this chapter are in german)  
Jonas sat down at the bar and held his head in one hand.  
“I dont know whats wrong with everyone. There is chaos and bloodshed every single day in this place. Then this happens and suddenly everyone forgets how to drive!”  
“that many, huh?” Florian set a bottle of beer in front of Jonas face, who grabbed and opened it on the edge of the bar.  
“..seven. seven cars in 8 Days. And not just the pirates.” Jonas fixed every car, radio or device if he could and if you got the money.  
“yeah it seems everyone is pretty lost on the situation. The amount of different stories, rumors and lies i hear here everyday is ridiculous.” Flo was shaking his head.  
“well.. can you say you know what about is rumor and what not?”  
“Some people here call us stupid, but imma go ahead and trust my “dumb White Bread”-instinct and believe what the Doc. said when he grabbed a drink here this morning." he gave a sassy look to his friend."Anyway i should be off in a Minute i'll tell you at home.” It took 5 more minutes till Florian catched the next bartender up on how the day had went to this point.  
Jonas and Florian left the Bar together and headed in the direction of the little house they called their home.  
Jonas started unlocking the door.  
“by the way did you hear anything from liz lately? I haven't seen her in since nearly a Week before all this shit went down.”  
“nope and i am getting nervous. I get why she doesn't live with us, but 2 Weeks is a new record. Maybe she’s keeping an even lower profile as usual cause of all the commoti- nevermind…. sup Liz.”  
Inside the home, on the beat up couch, sat the young 23 Lisa aka Liz. Their best friend, that they jokingly started calling their little sister over 5 years ago. Until they came here and decided to ignore the fact they weren't actually related and just rolled with the family thing.  
She was sitting in there cross-legged, in camo-pants, a dark green top and a black and brown button-up t-shirt she wore open. Her Backpack with a Hunting bow, some arrows, a small machete in its sheath and her sheathed hunting knife, which she usually wore around her thigh, layed on the floor next to the couch.  
“Hey guuuys.” she grinned with a sheepish smile.  
“Oh god.. what happened?” Flo had a suspicious look on his face.  
“wha.. what? nothing?! i came over for a round of Durak! (a card game) you know like every week!”  
“No. He is right. You are making that face. You always make that when something is wrong. Also you have been gone for 2 weeks without ANY sign or message! We were worried!”  
Jonas chimed in and closed the door.  
The Guys joined her at the couch. And after a few pulled up Eyebrows and “yeah sure.” from her brothers Liz gave in.  
“.. guys.. i maaaay have made.. and oops.”  
Jonas tilted his head. “an oops?”  
“an oops… like a big oops.” she nodded.  
“What oops?” Flo put a hand on her shoulder. “And why are you so nervous? I mean lets be honest it can’t be that bad with all the current Chaos in the Island.”  
“...Yeah.. about that.” Liz rolled her eyes to the side and bumped the tips of her Pointer Fingers against each other.  
Both men grew silent.  
“..no. F-ing. Way…”  
“you’ve got to be kidding…”  
“... i miiiiight be kinda, partially, a liiittle teeense weense, little bittle bit responsible for it.” She scratched the Short Hair in her Neck. “but just a little, little bit.”  
“The Doc was at the Bar today and he didn’t mention you in his side of the story...”  
“Well he better not! I’ve been running even more errands than usual for him! And i sure hope he doesn't spill the beans to our good old Mr. Iro-Man! (Iro is german slang for Mowhawk) I am not sure if he can remember me even being there when shit hit the fan, but i damn hope NOT.”  
Florian got up and got some drinks from the fridge. The Shack wasn’t big. It was one large room that functioned as a Kitchen, Living room and Bedroom for the 2 Men with 2 beds in the 2 far end Corners. A couch, a small self crafted Table and 2 Stools where everything in here. But they had bribed the right people to build themselves a little Bathroom with a Toilet and a Shower. The water was cold but could be heated with a bit of extra effort.  
The Bartender came back and set 2 Bottles of Beer and a Keg filled with an Ipanema on the table.  
“so.. let’s talk this through. What. The. Fuck.” Jonas took a deep breath through his nose and released it in a meditive manner. “Why were you ‘there when shit hit the fan’?”  
Liz took her Ipanema-Keg and slurped a little sip. “well… you guys remember how i always have these supplies.. and how always say ‘I gotta stock up again’ and shit? Well i kinda sneak into the Compound.. and take a few things.” She shrugged.  
This caused a Beer-Spit-Fountain and a fallen Chin. Both staring at her in disbelief.  
“wowowow.. WHAT?”  
“are you serious? That's nuts! That's basically suicide!”  
“Relax guys! I’ve been doing this for over a Year and a half now! And it never even got noticed that stuff was missing! Also i made some tunnels.. and some removable wall pieces to get in and out unnoticed, hidden objects for emergencies. Like if i ever get caught in the act.” Liz begann counting the things on her fingers.  
“i mean where do you guys think i get my good stuff from? My Backpack, these pants that i cut the legs so they fit me, these boots. Someone has really small feet in there, but i don't judge. My bow, I mean they have guns why would they miss this thing? A bunch of food, but never more than i actually need so they won't notice… for the rare case of them retrieving luggage from captives, bra's, underwear, some dark clothes that actually fit me… you know? Useful stuff that they won't miss." she shrugged again.  
With a face-palm Florian sank deeper in the couch. "why did we never ask where you had that shit from?" it was more a question to himself.  
Jonas just gave a defeated sigh and massaged his Temples.  
"but yeah.. My time of easy loot is over now.. All thanks to the Jelly Bean and his stupid antics!"  
The Siblings had an agreement to never use Names of People when they talked their home language or in general. It was just safer for the case of sneaky ears on this island.  
So with Jason becoming more and more of a topic and the pirates already using Snow White as a nickname. They settled on Jelly Bean for the JB of Jason Brody. Same was for Iro-Man. They were all comic fans and a few people already heard them talking about comics and buying some when the rare occasion appeared that they had some on the island. Mostly out of captive luggage.  
So Iro-Man was a great decoy.  
"So.. Please tell me, your not going to go back in there and try to steal some stuff?" It was more a plea to her sanity than a question from Floran.  
A simple, "nnnope!" was the answer.  
A sigh of relief from jonas.  
"that is at least a relief… but that's not saving you from telling us what happened."  
"ok Fiiiine.."  
Liz groaned and took a huge gulp from her drink. "It all started when i met the Jelly"


	2. It's what keeps us Human.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is Liz POV: she is telling her Brothers this in a bit less detail and a different form with breaks, reactions from them in the middle and so on. She also uses the Code-Names when the person is named but for the sake of reading this chapter i decided to make a Flashback with a POV. Cause honestly reading it as a conversation would be horrible so i changed it and put in some extra bits. Enjoy!

It all started when she first met Jason.  
It was about 2 weeks before the incident.  
They ran into each other in the jungle, when Liz was on the hunt for some food.  
It led to a short standoff from Bow to Pistol.  
"Who are you?" Jason asked carefully. "Are you with the pirates?"  
"No. Do i look like it?" Liz had genuine surprise on her face and flashed a look down on herself. "Nah that red spot on my pants if from the Rabbit. Your not Team red ether.. Right?" At least she couldn't see any red bandana or something resembling the Pirates.  
"No." he did still seem suspicious.  
"Well.. Then we are good? I don't want trouble. I am just out hunting. If you don't mean harm to me, i don't mean harm to you. I will lower my Bow now." Liz slowly lowered her bow and let the string gently loose. She still kept her hand at the arrow, but tried not to be threatening. It took a short Moment in which Liz had to keep her calm, till the unknown man lowered his gun as well, still with suspicion in his eyes.  
"Why is a young woman, that is not part of the pirates, deep in pirate territory?"  
"i live somewhat close by. Im not a pirate. And, as you can see by my arms, not with the Rakyat ether. I am also not against the Rakyat. I'm as neutral as possible just wanting to get by." She openly showed and twisted her arms. "see? No tattoos. But you seem to have some. Wait.. Are you.. No way... Are you Jason?"  
He squinted his eyes and gave a long thinking pause before answering. "Yes. And who are you?"  
"Im Lisa. My friends call me Liz." she put her arrow back in her backpack pocket that she used as a quiver. "I heard much about you."  
"like?"  
"Well.. You are a survivor. Like me. I also got away from the pirates." she chuckled. "But they sure as hell are not searching me like they do you. Sheesh." that let Jason soften his posure a bit.  
"You fled too? When?" "how about we find a save place and talk there. As you said. We are kinda in 'get seen, get shot'-land. I know a little hidey hohle near Alec's place." Liz turned his back to him and started walking.  
He waited for a second but joined her afterwards.  
While they moved silently through the jungle, Liz noticed something she had not during her time here.  
The long time on the island had teached her. While she herself moved seemingly as silent as an owl, jason made, compared to her, a lot of sound. He was still silent but there was a difference. It took them a short while but they reached a safer place to talk.  
"So. How long have you been here? When did you escape? Why are you not with the Rakyat? How do you know Doc. Earnhardt?" Jason immediately started with his questions, while Liz sat down and drank a bit from her canteen.  
"that's a lot of questions.. Let's see.. Something near 2 years? About 24 to 27 hours after we got captured. With the Rakyat.. That's a bit a touchy subjekt. We.. don't see eye to eye. Nothing dramatic, like I'm not gonna throw a wrench in their plans, but I'm also not gonna kill for them. And the Doc? Well I would be dead for so long if I couldn't count him as a friend. I sometimes run errands for him and whenever i need his help, he does what he can."  
The two of them chatted for a while. Jason told her how he and his brother came here, fled and how he met the Rakyat.  
They stayed there for a while, till Liz stood up at one point.  
"Anyways, i should head home." she stretched a bit. "still gotta cook this bunny. It was nice meeting you, Jason. Maybe we will run across one another again."  
"yeah. It is somewhat relieving to know, there are more people who got away from these assholes."  
He smiled and got up as well.  
"But first imma head to my man Al. Found some herbs that he might be able to use." they waved goodbye and Liz went to Alec.  
As always, once she got close to the clearing of the house she went low and looked out for any sign of Pirates being there.  
After 5 minutes of absolute silence around the house, the Greenhouse-door opened and the old doctor walked out in direction of the mansion. Liz let out a breath of relief and got up to walk to him.  
"Ah hello Lisa. How are you doing?" the wrinkles of the old man's face formed themselves to a smile.  
"Hey Doc." she smiled back and gave a little wave. "I am doing alright. How about you?" She followed him inside the house. "Ah just the usual. Had some Pirates pick up a delivery today. Nothing big." He poured 2 cups of Tea. "Oh, umm i still have a fresh rabbit with me.. I don't know if i have time for Tea.." "Oh.. Force of Habit. It's Earl Grey." That sly old man. They always drank Earl Grey together. ".. I will just put this in your fridge real fast." and with that she deposited her rabbit, took a seat and enjoyed the evening with, Doc Alec.  
She liked the old man. He had teached her a lot about the Islands Flora. Even gave her a Notebook, to write down edible herbs and fruits for her to consume, mushrooms and plants he could use for his purpose and things she could use for worst case medicine, to bridge the time she needed to get to him for help. She knew about what happened to him and his child. So she never corrected him when he had his moments and called her Agnes instead of Lisa.  
Alec was kinda like a Dad/Uncle to her anyway so why not let him lessen the pain by calling her with his dead daughters name. It was kind of messed up, but it seemed to help the old man.  
After a Cup of Tea, that turned into many cups, she left at the brink of night. Just to turn around after 3 minutes to get her rabbit from the fridge.  
Sometimes she really wondered how she survived out here. 

About 6 days later Liz encountered Jason again. This time they didn't point weapons at one another. Again they had a nice chat. Jason told her, he also wanted to try and "hone his skills" for survival here in the Pirate lands. She decided to help. After all, ex-captives had to hold together. Right? She enjoyed helping people. It was one of the things that kept her human.  
They hunted a deer together that day and Liz gave some standard tips from her 'Rook fauna' notebook. She also noticed more symbols on his arms, as he read her book.

They ran into each other one more time.  
It was 4 days before the incident.  
Liz was collecting small branches and edible berries for her firepit, when she found him trying to fish with a makeshift spear.  
After a short greeting she decided to rest a bit with him and enjoy a berry snack.  
A bit of Awkward silence was broken when Jason pointed at her. "new jacket?"  
"yeah. The old one ripped. So i went on a sneaky shopping trip." Liz answered between bites.  
"A what now?"  
"sneaky shopping trip. I sneak into the Main Pirate Compound, look through the luggage in their Storage Shack and then.." she made a 'poof' noise with her mouth. "none the wiser that i was ever there. Been doing that for ages."  
"... Why haven't you freed captives?" That question came out like a bullet.  
"Cause i can't" she sighed. "It's not that easy Jason. I don't just walk in there, look from shack to shack and then get what i need. I check the Compound from afar for at least 2 days and look how much everyone is on guard, if i look for something super specific i won't go until i see it with my binoculars from afar. I can't go on an 'if'. I also enter and leave as close to my goal as possible. The cages… Are too much in the open and way to heavily guarded by this point. The pirates would spot and shoot me. Or worse." Liz started nodding lightly.  
"Probably worse. Cause other then you, I have the problem of not having a dick. Also even if i would manage to open just one cage… the chances of getting away are slim. When i got out, it was because i and the others had a set plan. Even then about 80% of us either got recaptured or died within 10 minutes! You and your Brother had a plan and im sorry if this is blunt. But you are the only one still here. Imagine sitting in this cage and all of a sudden someone opens it and tells you to run. You wouldn't get far, because you wouldn't have time to think!" Liz hanged her head.  
"can you show me how to get in?"  
Her head snapped up. "Are you even listening?"  
But Jason just held his hands up in defense. "I do listen. And i won't try to free someone. I just need some supplies and it sounds like a usefull skill to survive here."  
"What kind of supplies do you wanna look for?" Liz was suspicious. "Ammo mostly. But the clothes thing sounds good as well." he was met with a stubborn face.  
"come on. Please? I promise i won't go near the Cages and i will follow you commands."  
That wasn't the problem. Her problem was, she would have to go with him. It was a tightrope-act each time to go in there alone. But with 2 people it was even harder. And of all people, she would bring in Jason Fucking Brody into THE Compound that Vaas himself called home base. She never wanted to be a part of the conflict between Rakyat and Pirates. But this was even worse. She could get between the fronts of Jason and Vaas given that they seemed to have some serious personal Beef.  
Flo had told her a Story on how a pirate nearly got himself a bullet in the head when he mentioned how Brody took out a outpost. All while sitting at the same table as his boss.  
So yeah if she could she should avoid that.. She also had a feeling of getting betrayed by this guy.  
But she also had sympathy for him. He was a survivor like her. He lost people that were dear to him. Saw his Brother getting shot. Alec had given her the info that he himself had adviced Jason to ask her for some tips given her own success against all odds.  
She wanted to help him survive in this place, but the jungle had also teached her something important. Always save yourself first. Cover you own Ass before anyone else's.  
She should say no.  
Unfortunatly against all better knowledge she decided different.  
She looked up and into Brody's eyes.  
"only if you promise me something."  
"Sure. What do you want?"  
Her voice was dead serious.  
"I will show you, how to get supplies from there. BUT you will get your stuff and leave. No antics, no cockfights, no shootouts. Just supplies. I will show you exactly once how its done. After that, you won't use my way in again. You gotta find your own ways. That place is a goldmine for me, 30% of my survival is based on what i steal from there. This is the only place with occasional normal female clothing. After we are done, you will go find your own Pirate camp to spy and steal from. I am not a fighter Jason. If i get caught its game over for me. Ok? You understand and accept these terms?"  
He thought for a long moment. A nod with an accompanied "yes." was his Answer.  
So it was decided.  
They agreed to meet at a certain spot about 3 kilometers from the Main Compound away on the next morning. 

The next 2 days where spent in trees and on hills as close as needed and as far as possible from the compound. They sat or layed there with binoculars. Liz explained where the building was that had what Jason wanted.  
"what about the other buildings?"  
"Shouldnt matter to you."  
"come on. How am i gonna learn if you dont show me?"  
Damn this man and his guilt trips!  
"well.. That over there where the 4 people stand, is the kitchen. That multifloor hunk of metal house there… That's the trickiest place. It has a lot of common storage in the lower parts. The luggage, suitcases and backpacks of captives as an example. The downside is, i have no idea what's upstairs. Going in there is going to be my downfall one day."  
She also pointed out the makeshift infirmary for cases where they don't need the doc and the common party area.  
"whats with the rest?"  
"you do realize people need to sleep right? That's the living shacks. They are well spread between all funktion buildings. Smart decisions. It makes sneaking in really haaaaar-shit."  
Jason looked up from the Binoculars. "whats wrong?"  
Liz looked over to him. "i just saw a guy with not 1, not 2 but 5 first aid kits walking into the infirmary. I am so low on bandages right now.. But it's too far off from the armory. We need to go either or.."  
She looked back down to the pirates.  
"I'm sure we will figure something out." Liz didn't quite like the tone in his voice, but right now she was focused on the task at hand. 

After multiple hours on the first day, Vaas appeared at the compound. And 10 minutes after that, Liz had to nearly slap the binoculars out of Jason's hands to make him stop staring.  
"what are you doing? You said we have to make sure we understand whats going on!"  
"Yeah so quit staring at you Boyfriend! This guy has some sort of a 7th sense when it comes to being looked at. I tried to figure out his day and night circle once and at some point he just turned around, looked me straight in the eye, smiled, waived and sent some guys in my direction! I was over 2,5km away in a Tree! After that i never used that spying spot again!" she pressed it through her teeth.  
She did not sleep well for a week after that experience.  
When she put the binoculars back up, she kinda already expected to meet those eyes, but no. Vaas was currently shouting at some poor pirate for some reason.  
It clearly went against Jason's wants, to ignore Vaas, but he had agreed to her demands so he had to deal with it.  
The rest of the day was eventless. 

On the second day, Jason managed, by a lot of begging, to convince Liz to let him go for the armory while she grabs her First aid kit.  
So now she was explaining where her small Tunnels and hiding places where, that she had created over her one and a half year experience.  
At first she only told him the ones that he would be using. After more guilt tripping her with: 'i remember that place, that's where my brother died' and stuff like pointing out the cage he had been in, she showed him her entrances as well.  
She explained what they would look like. The tunnels weren't long just very well hidden.  
The one she was gonna use, started at an old Foxes nest. That hole had to be there for years before she came her.  
The one from jason started in a bush next to a dead tree. It was super well hidden.  
The exit points, however where more tricky.  
She explained how he had to determine when it was safe to come out. 

The third day was the most important one.  
This evening everything was going to go down.  
So the day was spent with last preparations.  
"take only what you really need inside and take only what you really need back out. If anything goes wrong. Bail. Just bail. Tactical retreat is not a shame. Just promise me you will bail." Liz had repeated that so many times by now it annoyed herself, but she wanted to make sure Jason remembered it.  
She was ready. Her backpack was nearly empty. Only her book, a Walkie Talkie, her empty first aid kit and a pen were sill in it.  
Her bow and machete layed in her favorite hiding spot. She only needed her knife and her backpack.  
After she was ready, she climbed back up the tree to make sure nothing out of the ordinary was going on.  
"hm.. Everything looks good to me. It does look like they are moving the captives right now though.. Which is actually good for us. It means less men will be there. Meaning: Less eyes to see us."  
She made multiple check ups over the day.  
Something felt off.  
Everything looked right.  
But something.. Just didn't fit. She couldn't put her finger on it.  
"ready to go?" jason was standing at the bottom of her tree.  
".. Yeah yeah we should be good. Captives have been moved, less men are there."  
Together they made their way closer. Again, Liz was nearly soundless as she knew her stepps.  
When they got to a certain point, she told him in a whispered voice.  
"My tunnel is just a few minutes in this direction. Yours is still a bit ahead. I hope you remember where. I will wait a few minutes before i go in. Good luck… And don't die."  
Jason just smiled. "Thanks for everything." and he left.  
Well.. That was weird.  
But he wouldn't go back on his promise. He didn't seemed like that kinda guy. Also he was smart enough to know it would be suicide.  
At least that was what she hoped.  
Going into her little Tunnel, she made her way all the way to the exit inside the compound. Her exit was great, it was right behind the makeshift infirmary.  
She waited. After about 10 minutes she was sure she had given Jason enough time. With skill and experience she found a perfect moment to slip out of her tunnel and into a hiding spot she had made.  
Now came the scary part. The sun was already starting to set, her goal was it to be out of here before the sun was down. The darkness of night had saved her ass many times by now, but here they had dogs. And those don't need light to find and ripp you to shreds.  
To get into the building, Liz had to find a perfect time window, to jump into the actual window. She had paid such close attention to the infirmary building over the preparation-days. Liz was absolutely sure, that after die kits where brought in, aside from someone getting supplies every now and then, no one should be laying in there.  
Within 5 minutes of careful sneaking she finally was able to jump in.  
Empty, just as she expected.  
She went up to the shelf and switched a completely new first aid kit, with the empty old one she had in her backpack all the time. To make her decoy more believable, she took some stuff from a opened kit and put them into her old one on the shelf.  
Just as she was satisfied with her work and ready to leave, shouting.  
Gunshots.  
More shouting.  
With a whispered curse she went down more and hid in the shadows forming in the room.  
"ach fick mich doch! (oh fuck me!)"  
This was the absolute worst case. Did Jason get caught?  
Well now there was just one thing to do. GTFO.  
"VAAAAAAAAAS!" The roar of Jason was heard.  
"God fucking damn it, Jason!" Lisa held her head as she whispered her curse. Could someone just please tell her, he did not just do this? This was bad. This was SO bad.  
Outside, chaos broke lose. Bullets flew around, bodies hit the floor. It went on for minutes that felt like hours. There was no way Liz could just go back out into her escape right now. These guys were on full alarm right now. And to get out there was mabey 2 meters she had to cross in plain sight.  
Then a short silence.  
Until different yells of "where did he go?"  
"find that asshole!" and other orders were shouted from different people. Liz carefully peered through one of the windows. A whole bunch of pirates were dead on the ground. The rest was looking for Jason. Unfortunately, some of the living pirates were wounded. And Liz was hiding in the infirmary.  
Fuck.  
But now was not the time to freak out.  
She had to do something! Peering through all the windows she tried to map herself a way.  
One guy was patrolling around the neighbor building while his partner was searching it.  
Great they were in eyeshot of her escape route.  
The other windows however showed her an opening. She could make it to a bunch of crates and then into the biggest building. It was the one tunnel that she had managed to let it end inside a house. There was a broken metal plate under a rug. Under that was her way to freedom and survival.  
She waited for an opening and took it. Sliding behind some crates.  
"what was that?"  
Lisa's blood froze.  
Stepps came closer to her point of hiding.  
She was not a fighter. This was is. This was the end of freedom, the end of joy and the end of the trio that could.  
The footsteps were just about to reach her, as suddenly more yelling happened.  
Again the sound of Gunshots filled the air.  
Whoever had walked up to her, sprinted towards the commotion.  
In a brave second Liz dared to take a look.  
Jason was running away, followed by a bunch of Pirates.  
That was an ultimate window. She dashed over the compound ground, beelining for the building.  
Right now every guard would probably mistake her for a pirate in the heat of moment. Having a 'boyish hairstyle' sometimes really paid of.  
Inside she shut the giant door just a little bit more.  
After a short breath of relief, she turned around ready to bail for her tunnel.  
She froze.  
Blood. Lots of blood.  
Maybe 2 meters next to the rug, was someone.  
Vaas.  
He just...laid there.  
Was he..?  
A cough. A slight movement. A turn.  
Eyes. Half lidded eyes looking at her.  
The last time she was face to face with this man, she was in a cage made of bamboo.  
Nearly 2 years ago.  
She had to get out of here!  
But her legs didn't move.  
She managed to break the eye contact, but what Liz saw next was even worse.  
Multiple deep cuts and stab wounds decorated the lower abdomen.  
Another cough, another movement. He seemed to try and get from a sideward position into a lying position on his back.  
She should leave.  
This was wrong.  
She was in a dilemma.  
If she just left. She would save a lot of people in the future, but at the cost of her knowledge of leaving someone behind to die.  
This would be her fault.  
If this man would die right now. She would have his blood on her hands.  
Jonas, Flo and her had managed to survive these 2 years, without having to kill anyone. They made a point of keeping their kindness to others. It's what made them human. It's what stopped them from becoming like the rest.  
Like in a trance Liz grabbed a little Walkie Talkie, she had in her bag.  
"... Al.. I-i need you here.. M-Main Compound, giant metal building. D-dont ask.. Just.. I need help.. Now."  
She let the device fall out of her hands and fell into a short sprint.  
There was a answer from the walkie talkie, but she didn't understand it.  
It was pure tunnel vision. Her ears filled with static noise.  
Back home there was a law. If you are the first at sight when someone needs medical help. It's your duty to do whatever is in you power to help them until professional medical help arrives. First aid courses were a usual recurring thing in her home region. But she never had to help someone else then a Dummy.  
Like on autopilot, she grabbed her hunting knife.  
This got her a reaction. When she brought it into position, her arm was grabbed.  
Or more touched.  
There was little to no strength in it. Or there was and her adrenaline just kicked into top gear.  
Liz didn’t know.  
The static noise got louder again. If there was something said, she didn't hear it.  
The young woman just put the hand aside gently and proceeded to cut away the remaining tank top.  
It was ruined anyway and she ran out of time!  
Once the wounds were free, Liz dumped the few things in her backpack on the ground, ripped open the first aid kit and went to work.  
She needed to pressure the wounds.  
First she helped lift the back of her patient, so she could roll bandages under it.  
Right now it didn't matter who das patient was. Right now this was a human dying and she needed to help.  
Liz pressured the first set of wounds with cushions made from triangle bandages.  
After that she took the remains of the bloody top, pushed everything into the empty first aid kit bag and used that to pressure the next set of wounds.  
"Verdammte Scheiße! Für sowas sind diese beschissenen Dinger nicht ausgelegt! (cursed shit! These shitty things aren't made for this kind of situation!)  
She was out of bandages.  
Looking around something catches her eye.  
"need this!" she undid the red bandana from her patients arm and fumbled it under him.  
She needed something clean to pressure it with.  
She took her jacket, folding it in the shape of a pillow and with a few hard tugs pressured the last few big wounds. It wasn't 100% clean, but it was all she could do.  
Now she could only add manual pressure and wait.  
She put her forearm in a diagonal line over the wounds. She couldn't pressure all, but it had to do the trick.  
Was this the right thing to do? Maybe not. A bunch of stab wounds was not something she was prepared for.  
Did it seem to hurt. Yes.  
Could she change that? No.  
Under her arm, she could feel every single painful breath. It was at least a sign for life.  
Her clothes and her arms were soaked in blood.  
Liz only started to snap out of her trance when she heard a motor, yelling and footsteps.  
Only now did she realize, she had started to whisper reassuring things.  
"Everything will be fine."  
"The doc is gonna be here soon."  
"shh.. Deep breaths."  
"no time for sleeping, stay awake."  
"you are not alone."  
Liz had no memory of starting to do that.  
Once the footsteps grew closer and reached the partially closed door, she bolted for the carpet.  
Pulling it aside, she shoved the metal plate out of the way and just kept crawling.  
Once she got to the end of the tunnel, she kicked the entrance hard enough for it to collapse.  
Liz ran. She picked up her bow and machete and just ran home. 

Time was a surreal thing right now. It felt as if it had stopped, but at the same time she was at home in the blink of an eye.  
Home was a little cave. located deep in the Pirate teritorri. It had everything she needed. A makeshift Bed composed of a pile of leaves, covered in an ocean of blankets. A map of the island was pinned on the wall, tools scattered around the floor and a few backpacks filled with clothes, food items and toiletries.  
Plant life grew over the entrance, keeping it hidden.  
As soon as Liz was home and had a silent moment for herself, she cried.  
What the fuck had just happened?  
What kind of nightmare clusterfuck did she just witnessed?  
Why did she do that?  
If she just wouldn't have given in to showing that idiot how its done, none of this would have happened!  
What was he thinking?  
Did he do that in purpouse?  
Liz had told him how important her rules where.  
Her heart sunk deep.  
She just lost her way of getting about 30% of her most important supplies.  
There was no way she ever would use her system again!  
She left empty handed out of this mess, also lost her favorite backpack and her book she worked on for so long.  
She collapsed. 

The next day was hard.  
Body sore, mind sore and just an exhausting night in general.  
looking down upon herself was not needed.  
Dried blood clung on her body.  
It was sickening.  
On her way to a nearby waterfall, she had to hide. A patrol of pirates was out and about.  
This was unusual. They seemed to make a pretty wide parameter for the compound.  
Unnoticed Liz listened into their conversation.  
Jason got away.  
And he didn't get spotted in the compound. Apparently he silently killed multiple pirates. Those were found first, then he showed himself yelling for Vaas.  
Who seemed to be alive.  
That was a relief.  
Or not. She wasn't sure.  
Everything hurt and she was tired. After a cold waterfall shower, Liz sat in her cave.  
Her eyes pinned on her arms.  
She didn’t see any Blood on her Skin.  
It was gone.  
She did the right thing.  
She helped.  
Helping others.  
Compassion, empathy.  
It was what makes her human.  
She was human.  
This was Ok.


	3. Everything is Fine

The rest of her day was painfully slow.  
She should be doing so much. Instead, Liz stayed in her makeshift bed.  
Her tries of getting a good few hours of sleep, all ended in nightmares.  
She was done. If Vaas remembered what happened, he now not only knew of Liz existence, but also how she had helped Jason.  
And if Jason found out what she did, he would surely be coming for her head as well.  
This was horrible.  
5 hours of sulking in bed later Liz got up.  
Rook was a wild place. No one waited for your. Life kept moving forward. And she had to as well. 

Getting up, the young woman looked through her clothing stash. Her clothes from yesterday were trash. There was no way she could wash that out.  
Most of her pants weren't from captive luggage like her shirts. She stole those right out of the shack from a pirate. They were just more useful.  
The amount of pockets was crucial for her use.  
The only problem: her legs were to short.  
So every time she got a new pair, Lisa had to cut of a portion of the legs and sew the ends, so the pant leg's fabric wouldn't start falling apart.  
She used the remainder of the day to prepare clothes, transform one of her 3 supply-backpacks into a new travel backpack and to tinker a bit on new helpful tools. 

It took her till the 3rd day after the incident, until she was forced to go out and hunt.  
With her newly assembled gear, Liz made her way into the jungle.  
First things first . Medical supplies. She had failed to get anything.  
After that she would aim for food. Meat sounded great, but getting animal blood all over her was not very welcoming right now.  
With a sigh, Liz made her leave.  
It took her longer then expected to reach the old mansion of Doc Earnhardt. Nothing unusual seemed to be going on. It was still quite early and Lisa really hoped, her old friend was awake already. Keeping watch for her regular 5 minutes nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  
She first took a look into the greenhouse. No Alec.  
Moving towards the Mansion itself, something again felt off. Peering through a window, she could see the old man, drinking tea.  
With 3 little taps against the window, she had his attention.  
Alec looked tired as well but his frame perked up at her sight.  
Lisa waited at the back door.  
When Alec came out she didn't even get a chance to say hello.  
He pushed her in the direction of the greenhouse.  
"I am so glad to see you up and well." he held her shoulders and started looking her up and down "are you hurt? What happened? Why were you there?" he paused. "No. Don't tell me. Knowledge can be dangerous on this island."  
"It's good to see you too, Al. I am fine, just a bit shook up and completely out of anything medical. And yeah, you don't want to know.. It's a mess." a soft smile formed on her Lips. A smile the Old chemist mirrored. "You know, it is very good you are here. I need some resources from the jungle." He pulled out a piece of paper. It was a list of herbs and mushrooms. All had descriptions and some even pictures. Made sense. Alec was there. He probably saw her left behind book. 

So she spent the next few days with looking for these plants. It helped keep her mind of, of what happened. Every time she would bring Alec his ordered things, he already had a new List. She got band aids, painkillers and Bandages in return.  
The amount she got was really too little for her put in effort, but both knew Alec couldn't throw around with that stuff either. What did set her off, was that he never once asked if she wanted a cup of Tea.  
In hindsight it made sense, once she caught a glimpse of Alec talking to someone in his home.  
She wanted to slap herself once she heard the voice of Vaas.  
Of course he was there! This was basically the only place you should bring someone with these kind of wounds.  
How did she not make this connection?  
The windows swallowed most of the conversation, but she could hear that the Voice of Rooks own Pirate lord was still a bit hoarse.  
She just left her delivery on a windowsill. 

The solitude didn't help with her sleep.  
Every night she woke up.  
Her little home just didn't feel safe right now.  
Also she hadn't been with her brothers in way to long.  
So Lisa packed all the things she would need for a trip to Bad Town and a sleepover.  
She needed to get her mind of this mess.  
Telling her brothers was a thought that crossed her mind shortly, but the less people knew the better. Those 2 were worried about her all the time. She decided to just play her part and be her happy self with them, spent some quality time and get some good nights of sleep in. 

___

(conversation in german)  
"so yeah.. That is basically what happened. I'm screwed and… i don't know what to do, guys" Liz blew her nose into a napkin. During her retelling of the story, she and one point started crying. It was just so much stress! She was basically fucked.  
A big bear-side-hug from Florian was kind of comforting.  
"it will all be alright. You got us! If any of these Assholes try shit, we will fight them, if we have to!" He let go of the Hug with one arm, to lift it in the ari. "Our battle will be LEGENDARY!"  
That Kung Fu Panda anecdote got him a little giggle out of his little Sister.  
"Sometimes i think we all watched to many Animated movies." Jonas, joined the laughter as he was preparing some food right now.  
It was true though. "That would be the shortest and saddest fight in history of Rook, but we are a Team. We rise together and we fall together."  
"Short and sad? Jonas! Cut us some fucking slack! We would definitely go over a Minute. Ok we would die nonetheless, BUT the thought is what counts!" They had a small laugh together.  
This was nice.  
Talking bullshit with her 2 brothers was always fun.  
Jonas sat down 3 plates of chicken curry.  
"But in all seriousness, if you don't feel safe in your home, you can always crash here with us."  
She couldn't even answer when Flo fell in her word.  
"Uhh! Slumber party! I'll make some more drinks!"  
He grabbed the empty bottles and the Keg and went to work in the kitchen.  
"I love you guys." Liz couldn't any different as to smile and shove a big spoon of curry in her face.  
These 2 were her World. Without them she would have never made it out of the Cage. Hell, they would all be sold as slaves and or dead by now. It was a Team effort.  
True she didn't live here with them in Bad Town, but that had reasons. The last thing Liz ever wanted, was to end up as a stripper or prostitute.  
Flo had offered her a Job in the Bar with him once, but did she really want to work with drunk locals and pirates? What if anyone got handsy or worse? Working with Jonas in the Garage sounded great as well. Tinkering was one of her long time hobbies. But that was dangerous too. Jonas sometimes had to leave the shop to fix stuff like the pirates radio towers. Which would mean, she ether had to stay alone in the shop and fix stuff there, or go with a bunch of pirates to fix a certain object, also alone. Yeah that was not going to happen.  
Sure, she knew how to defend herself to a certain degree, but why risk it?  
The first time the 3 siblings came to Bad Town, they sat together in the bar after Flo got on a good side with the owner and got the job.  
They celebrated.  
On the table behind her, she had listened in on the conversation of a bunch of pirates.  
They were making fun of something.  
She remembered clear as day, how they made fun of a certain captive and about how they all raped her.  
They laughed. The pain, the misery, her begging and crying. They laughed at it.  
The sheer fact, that this was a 'normal' thing here on rook, made every encounter, in her eyes, a risk of horror.  
Especially after she learned about a man named Buck.  
That man scared her.  
That's why she stayed as little as time possible in this city, or any other settlement.  
Everyone on this island was a Monster. Or at least had the potential to be one. 

But right now, she was shoulder to shoulder with the 2 people, she would go through hell for.  
And they would do the same for her.  
It was true, she messed up. She should have never trusted Jason with something like this.  
Now that she thought about it, she realized that this was doomed from the beginning.  
They actually had a good laugh about it. How ridiculous was that entire story?  
She thought bringing Brody into that place would end with him sneaking back out? How did she make that assumption? 

As Liz unpacked her things, Flo headed out for some more food for tomorrow. They had a extra mouth to feed after all.  
Jonas ruffled her hair, while walking by the couch.  
"Hey.. Don't break your head over this now. We don't know if ether Jelly Bean or Iro-Man have a clue what exactly happened or what role you played. I mean if there really was so much blood, he probably has no memory of you there anyway. You know?" he started acting "Ahh. ohh.. knife! cut, cut, stab, stab. Fall over, Blackout" He finished his presentation, by lying on the floor with his head on the side and tongue out of his mouth.  
A short moment of silence went by. Then they both bursted out laughing. 

"Everything will turn out fine, you'll see." 

Whatever would happen now, she had her brothers. Her Family. They would get through this together. 

This night, Liz took a long shower with heated water and crashed on her brothers couch.  
Who would have thought a shitty old couch could radiate such a feeling of safety?  
With a smile she drifted into a much needed restful sleep.

The next 2 weeks were surprisingly peaceful.  
Liz spent many nights at her Brothers, but also a few back in her home.  
During the day, she would hunt, forage, tinker and run errands for Alec. Who surprisingly needed her help gathering things way more often than usual.  
They didn't have direct contact, unfortunately.  
She did see him from time to time.  
But instead of talking face to face, he placed his requests in form of lists under a stone on his windowsill. There he also placed her payment in form of money, painkillers, bandages and Woman toiletries. All in plastik ziplock bags to protect the items from the rain.  
Fighting for survival on a murder island was not the easiest thing, but it absolutely sucked balls if you had to do it in your period without anything to help. How Alec got his hands on those items? She wouldn't ask. It was nice of the old man to think ahead. Now that she couldn't sneak into the compound and look through suitcases, this was her only way of getting these items. 

About a Week and a half, in she brought her delivery of some rare hallucinogenic mushrooms to the old Mansion.  
Yeah, she didn’t like that stuff either, but whatever floated Alec’s boat and after all he was still the main supplier for drugs on Rook.  
This time however, next to her payment of a pack of bandaids and disinfectant spray, was a pack of cigarettes and her walkie-talkie.  
Nice! She had gotten that from Alec back when they had become friends. It was for emergencies, if she had to call him for help. It felt good to have it back.  
But the cigarettes were weird. Hadn't she told Alec, she didn't smoke?  
Again, he could also have been on his own 'products' and forgot about it.  
He did offer her drugs multiple times already, cause they helped him to ‘ease the pain’.  
She always declined.  
Liz bagged her pay and left the delivery on the windowsill.  
Surely Florian or Jonas would gladly take those cigarettes of her. 

Everything seemed to go in a good direction.  
Rook started to settle back into its strange version of normality. 

One day. Now 3 weeks after the incident, Flo informed everyone during Dinner that Vaas had been in Bad Town today. He didn't know why, but the man had grabbed a drink at the Bar during his stay. You could see the bandages under his tank top and he looked a bit tired, but aside from that, back to usual. 

"See? We told you everything would be fine." 

“yeah.. yeah you were right. I’m fine.” Liz nodded and ate her Fish. She had been trying out a new hunting tool she build and had caught some kind of perch. One for each of them.  
It was a nice evening. They played cards, talked trash and battled with Puns.  
Shortly after sundown she left.  
It usually took her about an hour to walk over to her Home Base. 

Inside, she quickly put off her gear and changed her clothes to something more comfortable.  
During the time with her brothers, Jonas had the idea of installing something like a curtain behind the plants that grew over the cave entrance. It was meant to block the light of her candles and lamps. So she did and it worked beautifully. Before the light already got blocked pretty good, but now you really had to know it was there to see it.  
With a yawn and a stretch Liz lay slipped into her blanket ocean.  
Laying on her side, she reached for the Camping-Flashlight witch currently was in lamp-mode and turned it of.

Everything was fine.


	4. Is Everything fine?

A new day began, as Liz came out of her home. Freshly dressed, equipped and ready to start the day. In her camo pants and a grey top, she made her way into the jungle.  
With ease the young woman avoided stepping in fire ants, snakes and bumping into a cassowary. It was normal by now. After 2 years you learned how to read the wildlife. Liz and the others had long accepted that the rest of their life would be here on the Rook Islands. So slowly they became part of it and by now she truly felt at home in the thick lush around her.  
Today was great. The sun shined her brightest smile and a light breeze carried the smell of countless tropical flowers.  
Days like these nearly let you forget what this place truly was.  
At least one part of that Dive and Party advertisement hadn't lied. This Island was a natural paradise.  
Only if you ignored the human trafficking and the cruel, murderous inhabitants of course, but still. 

Today Liz wanted to enjoy herself. That included taking a dive at the beach, eating her favorite food and relaxing in her favorite spot on this Island.  
But the first thing on her list was finally drinking a morning Tea with her old friend again.  
During her time in Badtown, she went out and bought a pack of Earl Grey tea from one of the food sellers. After passing a Lemon tree, 4 fresh lemons shared the space in her backpack with the tea, a blanket, some prepared dough in a box and a few spices.  
In her good mood, Liz silently started humming "All Star". 

At the edge of the clearing, Liz could already see Alec.  
He was walking out of the back door and into his greenhouse. Following him were 2 Pirates.  
Liz went low and hid behind a bush and tree. She had found that spot a while ago. It seemed to have always worked as a good spying spot.  
While the 3 Men were inside the Greenhouse, a 4th figure came out of the backdoor.  
Vaas.  
Great. What was he doing here again?  
Usually his men got the delivery themselves.  
Maybe a medical check up?  
She should leave and come back later. 

Near the door, the Pirate lord stretched his arms and let out a Yawn. Doing so, he seemed to notice something. The windowsill.  
Maybe Alec had already placed a new list of things he needed?  
She watched as he took a look at it, just to put the piece of paper back with a, unsettling smile.  
It made her nervous. It looked so.. Knowing?  
Did he know someone was running errands for the Doc? Did he knew it was her? 

Her thought was cut short, when Vaas moved.  
He took 2 steps towards the treeline and just watched.  
Shit. Had she been staring?  
Liz tried to blend in with her surroundings even more, without making a sound.  
She could see, how his eyes moved from left to right over the treeline and back.  
Liz started looking at the ground. No need to challenge that feeling of someone staring at you.  
With her ear near the floor she heard it.  
One step.  
Two steps.  
Three steps.  
Silence.  
Liz didn't dare to look.  
From what her ears told her, he was about 13 Meters away. A bit to the left of her but way to close for her liking.  
A silent chuckle.  
Fuck. 

"Hey Vaas we are done! Everything is in the Car!" She never thought a pirates words could make her so happy.  
"Of course Hermano, of course, good fucking job we are all proud of you! Let's get back i got some shit to do." Well, someone was in a good and joking mood…  
With that, the footsteps moved away.  
A Car was started and drove of.  
Liz released a breath she didn't know she was holding. 

That was close.  
After staying on the floor for, what felt like 15 more minutes, she slowly got up. Again she let her eyes wander, just to make sure.  
Nothing.  
She made her way over to the mansion, but instead of saying hello, she just grabbed the list, left the tea and went on her way.  
This encounter spooked her and the danger of them coming back was to big. 

Her favorite spot on the entire northern Rook Island was on the northern side. A little beach, surrounded by cliffs.  
It was completely natural and she had never seen anyone there.  
The water was crystal clear, the wind a gentle breeze and the palm-trees gave a lot of shadow, given the beaches position.  
The water was filled with life. Fishes, different kinds of shellfish, crabs, the occasional lobster and most importantly: not a single shark in sight.  
There were mango, lemon and orange trees in walking distance, coconuts for the thirst and all in all it was probably the most peaceful spot of dirt and sand in this hell. About half a year ago, she started leaving a pot and a pan behind, for crabs and lobsters. If she could catch one, she would definitely treat herself today! 

After a good 45 minutes of peacefully walking, something in the back of her head felt uncomfortable.  
While walking, Liz closed her eyes and tried to focus on her hearing.  
It was barely noticeable, but there were steps. Footsteps which seemed to try and keep her rhythm to be masked by the sound of her own.  
Fuck. Someone was following her.  
For how long already?  
Who?  
She couldn't make out just how close the person was, but the sound was definitely was too close for her liking.  
She had to guess. 20 meters? Maybe 25?  
Turning around would alarm them and probably make them attack. 

She was close to the road at the northern coast. She would have to cross it to get to her spot.  
That usually required her to stop and look out for pirate vehicles.  
Fuck.  
They could also close in at any moment.  
She had to get a look and know who she was dealing with.  
There were a few possibilities:  
A pirate, those usually weren't as sneaky though.  
A Rakyat Warrior, who sometimes were pretty sneaky.  
Or the worst cases: Jason, that hitman Buck or Vaas.  
Those were, unfortunately, the most likely choices, given they tried to imitate her walk pattern for stealth. A hard thing to do, given her height of About 1,62m, something around 5"3'. She made more steps then many other people on this island.  
But Liz would put it in the skill set of all 3 if she had to guess.  
Though Vaas didn't make sense. He just drove of with the other pirates.  
Buck worked for a man named Hoyt. A man she didn't know anything of and really questioned, if he knew about her existence and would care enough to sent a hitman after her. Or the guy had just spotted her and followed her for shits and giggles. He was another fucked up sadist, so that was possible.  
Yaaay..not.  
Jason? Well did he knew already what happened? I mean he could probably connect the dots.  
It was kind of obvious once you knew Lizes personality. On the other hand he did not get to know her so well before basically stabbing Liz in the back.  
After all, she had told him if he messed up it would most likely be her end. So maybe he thought she was dead. On top of that Liz knew he was way louder than her while moving through the lush jungle.  
Also why would he be so far north anyway? Shouldn't he be taking over pirate outposts again? Thinking about some celebrations, she had heard of about how they had taken back quite a few of them in the chaos of the last 2 weeks.  
So who was that? And why did they keep such distance? Why stalk her, walking peacefully through the jungle? 

An idea flashed through Lizes head.  
She was passing a lot of flowers.  
While walking, she grabbed her hunting knife from her thigh, listening for a reaction.  
None, but she felt a light shiver roll down her spine. Someone was staring intensely at her back.  
This was the moment of truth.  
Liz stopped next to a big batch of jungle flame flowers, turned and cut off a small branch with about 10 flowers at its top, with her knife. She put it up to her nose to smell it and then set it behind her ear in her light brown hair. While her hand was still on the flower, she turned just her eyes to catch a flash of red about 17 meters behind her.  
Ok so it was some sort of pirate.  
The knife went back inside the sheath.  
She kept walking as normal until there was a fallen over tree in her way.  
Perfekt.  
Liz let out a little, playful giggle. It was silent but she was sure her pursuer noticed it.  
With a bit more of a 'playful' kind of skipping, her speed increased, till she, 'playfully' jumped over the log.  
Hoping to trick whoever was behind her in thinking, she still had no clue and was just having fun.  
As soon as her feet met the ground however, she went to book it at full speed. 

Shortly after, her ears caught heavy boots hitting the floor behind the tree. There was no gentle sneaking anymore.  
Both new the hunt was on.  
Within 20 meters Liz made a sharp left. She was getting too close to the road. If whoever was behind her, got backup now, her chances would fizzle into nothingness.  
Liz tried her best to use her small and nimble shape to her advantage. Running between tight trees to buy her time and purposefully running under low branches that she could just barely pass standing up.  
This sprint went on for about 2 minutes and her lungs burned. She had gained a lot of stamina over the years, but this was insane!  
Jogging for multiple kilometers? Sure she did that daily, but sprinting? Fuck no.  
She could hear the steps gaining on her.  
Fuck!  
Another dead tree to jump caused her to stumble but she managed to catch herself.  
She could hear the breathing behind her now.  
This was horrible.  
While trying to gain distance by jumping a rock, her right wrist was grabbed and she was yanked back by a strong tug.  
It hurt like shit.  
Half falling, her back crashed into her pursuer.  
Instinct kicked in and she elbowed the man behind her, wherever she may hit.  
It seemed to be his left side/abdomen.  
The reaction was better than she thought.  
With a pained groan, her wrist was free.  
Liz wanted turned around and kicked the guy in the same side with her right knee.  
She also wanted to follow that up with a kick in the balls, what would buy her a lot of time.  
She wanted.  
As soon as she turned around and her knee connected with her pursuers hip, she was met with green eyes that shimmered with anger.  
To her shock and disbelief from earlier, she was yet again standing right in front of Vaas.  
And he was pissed.  
Not even half a second went by and she felt something forcefully penetrating her lower neck on her left side.  
A burning sensation followed.  
With all her strength she pushed against his chest and herself away from the huge form in front of her.  
Her Neck surged with heat and pain, as whatever was in there got pulled out at an odd angle.  
Stumbling backwards she held the little prickling point with her hand.  
Vaas was just standing there, that happy, creepy little smile on his face, a syringe in his right hand. 

Liz felt like her body was gaining weight by the second. She swayed, trying to step away from him. With every blink, the picture changed. There were 3 of him at one point.  
He was coming closer again.  
Lizes irises had to look like tiny pin heads, given the tunnel vision that closed more and more.  
Her body couldn't hold her weight anymore and Liz felt herself fall against a tree and shrink down.  
This was it.  
2 years of living undercover. With no pirate seemingly noticing that she and her brothers were runaway captives.  
Over.  
The last thing Liz witnessed, was how her multiple visions of Vaas kneeled down in front of her, sayed something, that got muffled by the ringing in her ears and the feeling of a hand swiping away some tears on her cheek

Everything went dark.


	5. A Dinner with the Devil

Everything felt numb.  
Everything, except her head.  
That felt like it was about to explode.  
She phased in and out of consciousness. 

Her body awareness slowly came back to Liz.  
She was sitting. Probably in a chair.  
Her entire body felt sore and exhausted.  
At one point the ringing in her ears cleared and her vision came back from black, to blurry, slowly up to straight.  
With a few blinks and a light headshake, Liz found herself in a room filled with the soft light of a few gas lanterns.  
She was indeed sitting in a chair.  
Neither her Backpack, nor her Machete were strapped on her back. She also couldn't feel her hunting knife or the sheath at her left thigh.  
She was still wearing all her clothes, so that was a win. 

A big throb went through her head and Liz tried to hold it.  
Her hands came up to her chest height, before they couldn't move anymore up.  
She slowly looked up. There was a table.  
Her hands were in cuffs. They were metal, instead of the usual rope.  
Great. 

The chain went from one hand, to the table, was bolted in the middle of the table and connected to her other hand, trapping her at it, with a little bit room for movement.  
Right in front of the bolt, there was a slightly chipped vase. In it were the same flowers she had picked up.  
Liz leaned forward, so her hands could reach her head. After massaging her temples for a moment, she let out a sigh. Her right wrist hurt. She probably sprained it. 

"Good morning, Nena. It's about time you wake up! I was getting really worried!"  
Liz moved her head up to look beyond the vase.  
On the other side of the Table, Vaas sat in a chair, holding himself in a relaxed pose. He had that shit eating grin on his face. It let the woman's blood freeze. Green met Blue.  
"I've been waiting here for hours, Nena. The food is already cold! But, we can't let that precious nutrition go to waste, now can we?" He got up, getting 2 plates, that stood aside at another Table in the room.  
He placed one in front of her, the other on his side. Both plates had a steak with some grilled vegetables on the side.  
".. Wh.. What the…?" it was a mere whisper.  
What the fuck was going on?  
"Oh, I nearly forgot!" He took out a zippo lighter. HER lighter. She would recognize that weird sticker on it anywhere. It was an Egg holding a sign saying "Hent-Ei" a German pun with the word for egg = Ei and Japanese Hentia. 

Using the Zippo, he lit a candle next to the vase.  
The candle had obviously burned a good few hours since it had been placed there. Wax had dripped onto the Table already  
"Had to put that out earlier. Can't have it dying on me when i need it, No?"  
This way too good and giddy mood of Vaas should scare Liz. But she didn't get time for that.  
Instead she watched in complete confusion as 2 wine glasses were put in place, filled with red wine. On her other side was a bottle of water.  
There was a very weird aura of pride radiating from the Pirate lord, as he looked at the prepared table.  
She had heard, he was a very prideful person to begin with, but what the heck was happening right now?  
What was this?  
The last thing that was placed onto the Table, was a fork and a knife. Vaas was practically leaning over her shoulders, from behind her Chair, while placing them. She could feel the eyes of Vaas on her, as he lingered in that position.  
It was very uncomfortable, but the message was clear and received. It was a subtle 'they are for eating only' warning.  
He still had his knife and gun on him, so she wouldn't even think about trying something funny anyway.  
Liz just stared at the plate.  
The food itself looked self made, but pretty good self made. 

"W.. What is th-" she started coughing.  
God her throat was dry.  
The water bottle got set a lot closer to her hand.  
Liz mouthed a "thanks" while coughing and took a few big gulps of water. It was weird to drink with such less freedom of movement, but God that felt great. How long had she been passed out?  
Vaas did say it was way longer than he himself expected.  
She took a deep breath calming her nerves.  
This was a dangerous situation. She had to move very carefully with her words. She was literally in the Tiger's den right now. One wrong step and she would be eaten alive.  
"Sorry about that… What i was trying to say is: what is this?" She let it be heard in her voice, that she was genuinely confused. Right now she shouldn't play sassy.  
"Protein." It was such a happy answer, with which Vaas strolled back to his seat and sat down.  
"No.. I mean, yeah well i get that.. But what is this?" she carefully gestured to the entire table and room, making a sweep with her head to give everything a short look. Aside from the Table she was chained to, there was a small table behind Vaas, that has held the food and various other items. On the right was a big open shelf, filled with objects, she couldn't make out without letting her attention slip away from Vaas for too long. On her left was a little cupboard. The Gas lamps were not on full power, leaving the room in a lit but in a little bit dimm state. The glow of the candle was still able to shine on its own. Still during her short look, she could notice some old bloodstains on the walls and floor, before looking back at Vaas who looked a bit amused.  
The head movement of her gesture, to give the room a sweep, made her dizzy. Right after that, she sunk her head to hold it and mumble. "ow.. Fuck…. Sorry.. my head is killing me right now."  
She apologized merely to avoid falling under his definition of "rude". Cause that had a reputation of not ending well.  
After a few moments, something little, white landed on her steak. 

A pill.  
Looking up, she saw a, a bit less amused Vaas looking at her. So his mood was falling. Great.  
And this was a white, unlabeled, pill. This could be anything.  
She was so not gonna take that.  
Liz picked it up and put it aside the plate.  
"thank you.. I will take that later. It is unhealthy to take meds before you eat." she forced a smile.  
"If you say so, Nena." He didn't buy it one bit.  
There was a short uncomfortable silence.  
"Well.. This.. You put a lot of effort into this.." she said that while looking over the neatly arranged table.  
"So.. What's the occasion? If i may ask?"  
That got Vaas to perk up a bit and get that smile back. 

"Isn't it obvious, Nena?" he opened his arms in a welcoming way.  
"You stole something from me."  
Liz froze. Shit! She was dead. He knew it. He knew everything didn't he? What was in those shelves around her? Was this one of these Torture shanties?! Her hurting head ran at full speed.  
Was this her last meal before Vaas would start tearing her apart, bit by bit, for stealing from him?  
She had to keep it together now. 

"It hurts Nena." Her eyes snapped back to the man before her. The Pirate lord spoke with a somewhat melancholic, but also weirdly, happy, soft voice.  
"Everytime i close my eyes, you mock me with it. Stealing it again and running away." Vaas laid his open hands on his chest. "It really hurts. I can't think anymore. I can't sleep anymore, without you running around-" Vaas tapped his right temple with his pointer finger. "-in there. And you just never leave. You just hide to come back again and it starts a new." He made a pause. "It took so fucking long, to find where you go. Always disappearing like some magic trick. That old Bastard, always claimed he doesn't know where you go, after you pick up your pay. No? Had my men look for you, but they just couldn't figure it out."  
The smile grew wider. "But now i know why. I've seen it with my own eyes." Vaas rested his chin and cheek in one hand while leaning on the table. Those emeralds shined at her with.. Adoration?  
"You have the jungle in your Heart, Nena. Your soul, your blood. No? Nena that's a special thing. The jungle devours every single one of those small dick, city boys with jungle fever. Thinking they can make the jungle their Bitch. But you.. You took the jungle in your heart and accepted it for what it is. You're a predator, walking these-" "Hey Vaas!" A voice from outside cut him off. "Hey Vaas, where are you?" "Boss?" multiple voices called. 

The change from that weirdly gentle smile to angry and annoyed was terrifying. It wasn't pointed at her, but it still made a shiver run down her spine.  
With a deep growl, Vaas shot up from his seat, knocking the stool over and stormed to the door, out of Lisas sight. She could hear it being ripped open violently.  
"IM FUCKING IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMETHING, HERMANO! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?!"  
There was a lot of shouting behind her. Some of it in spanish from a few pirates. It was followed with more angry spanish from the Pirate lord. 

Liz couldn't focus on what was said outside the shack. In her head the thoughts raced.  
This wasn't her end.  
He wasn't talking about the items she stole over the years.  
Oh. My. God.  
Vaas wasn't out to kill her.  
This entire place was decorated to be something like a candlelight dinner.  
This was supposed to be a Date.  
Was this supposed to be his attempt at courting her?  
Wait.  
What now?

Liz could hear the voices coming closer again and heard Vaas say something about how it was ok and how he was gonna chill, before someone stepped into the room again. 

Vaas walked past her, and fumbled with something from the shelf.  
"Is everything ok?" it was a careful question.  
The situation was still super confusing. And the mood of Vaas seemed to be a minefield right now. 

He turned around smiling and walked right next to her. "Some of my men are just too stupid to do some fucking shit alone, so i gotta go help them real fast. But i won't be long! It would be very rude of me to let a lady wait, no?"  
Before he could keep talking, there was a very loud tummy rumble. It caused a deep chuckle from the Pirate lord. He placed his hands on both the shoulders of the small female frame and talked down on her head from behind.  
"You have been out cold for a while, so i, for once, won't be mad, if you start without me."  
The next thing let Liz freeze.  
The statement was followed by a short but intended kiss on top of her head.  
With that, Vaas walked back out of the door.  
She heard a click.  
He had locked the door behind him. 

After about 15 minutes, Liz was outside the compound.  
It was the middle of the night. Vaas wasn't kidding when he said she was out cold for a WHILE.  
He had chased her down in the morning. At like what? Something around 10 to 11am? Now it seemed like it was well past midnight.  
She was also pretty sure he was going to be VERY pissed as soon as he would come back, to a empty room.  
She did leave him a message though.  
Hopefully he would look at it and understand what she meant with it. 

Armed with nothing but one steak knife and a multitool, Liz headed for Bad Town.  
She needed some guidance from her brothers and she needed it NOW.

It was a long walk and part of her was surprised that she nether, was attacked by a predator like a tiger, nor seemed to be getting searched for. 

Once she was at the town, Liz just collapsed on her brothers couch with a promise to explain the absence of her gear and her sudden visit once she got a good amount of sleep, some food and water in her system. 

Even though her body was sore, hungry and exhausted, sleep didn't come for the young woman for another 2 hours. 

Liz was still kind of baffled with her new realization. 

Vaas Montenegro, Pirate lord and ruler of the Northern Rook island, baysically accused her of stealing his heart and was now trying to woo her.  
And even more messed up: She kind of liked it. 

What.  
The.  
Actual.  
Fuck.


	6. I'm loving Angles instead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to try and go for a Vaas POV. I hope i did a good job, cause lets be honest: His character is hard to do.  
> Also I can't for the life of mine remember if Carlos is an actual character in the game, or if he is just a character made up in the world of fanfiction. I know he is in multiple Far Cry 3 fanfics, so i decided to say F-it and include him too.

Ever since his fight with Jason, Vaas couldn't sleep.  
The problem was not Snow White though.  
Vaas had felt something was off for over a day, before he showed up. He knew he was coming. That's why Vaas moved all the captives out to an outpost so they could be shipped to the southern Island the next day. Hoyt would take his head if he would lose his product now.  
How Jason got in was still a mystery. Vaas had anticipated him running in, but silently killing his men and then yell for him was not what he expected. It surprised him enough to let jason get the first hit on him. 

The fact that Jason managed to fail and finish the Pirate lord, but instead ran, was a sign of how weak he was. He wanted to kill Vaas the Rakyat way? Well he failed to finish what he started.  
His sister, that bitch, was really trying to make warriors out of some outsiders who didn't understand the jungle like he did. 

No he couldn't sleep, because of what happened after.  
Laying in a mix of Jason's but also mostly his own blood, fog started to gather around him.  
Fuck. Was he really gonna die now? He wasn't afraid of it, it was just annoying. It made him furious that he would be killed by this wanna be Warrior that fucked his whore of a sister.  
There were steps and Vaas did what he could to turn on his back.  
A shadow was standing in the fog around him.  
Something hit the floor and the shadow ran towards his body bleeding out on the floor.  
For a moment he thought, there was another "warrior" who was gonna steal the kill from Jason. How ironic. It would be his last "Fuck You" to Jason and that bitch of a sister! 

But when he gripped the Arm, something was wrong. His hand fitted around it like he was holding a branch. He could feel the strength with which the weapon was held, but it wasn't aggressive.  
This wasn't some strong Warrior trying to kill him.  
Once the figure started to patch his wounds, Vaas let his eyes take in the entire form of this creature.  
Gentle hands taking care of his wounds. Thin but slightly defined arms, fit for survival but not roaring with strength. Short light brown hair in a semi-mohawk style. The hair on the side was visibly being trimmed too keep around 6 to 9mm while the top was longer. At the back the long met the short hair in a smooth transition.  
The face was neatly shaped, but way to soft for a Man. Two light blue eyes looked over him. They weren't as deep as sapphires but they still shined like gems. They seemed sharp, aware and focused on every move Vaas made. Strong like diamonds. 2 blue diamonds.  
Once the jacket was gone, he understood. This figure was a woman, coming from nowhere taking care of him in such a caring manner. 

Was she his guardian Angel preventing him from dying? He wasn't a religious man, but it seemed plausible.  
Her Voice, so caring and soft, ate itself into his mind the second she started her soothing words.  
"Who are you?" but his savior didn't answer.  
He felt his body growing closer to unconsciousness.  
Vaas had to watch how she stood up and left him, disappearing into the fog, that had closed in more and more around them.  
Only seconds later he heard the voice of Doc Earnhardt and Vaas passed out. 

Waking up was painful.  
First he couldn't remember what happened, but as soon as Vaas looked down upon himself and saw the fresh bandages, memories flooded his mind.  
He looked around.  
Recognizing the upper room of the Mansion, Vaas tried to sit up straight. His entire torso was shocked with a burst of pain.  
He knew well enough that fighting through it could open the wounds and kill him. So he let his body sink back into the mattress.  
On a table by the window was a pile of old, bloodied bandages. 

The following 2 days were spent in Bed.  
Vaas did have a Radio with him and gave Carlos his orders.  
He trusted his right hand man to run the business, till he was back up.  
Until then Vaas would do as much coordination over radio as needed.  
The pirate lord also got a call from Hoyt over the radio.  
He was not happy, but given that none of his products were damaged things were fine. 

As a method to kill time, Vaas listened into all the frequencies his men used.  
His men were furious.  
He had lost a few good men and they all hated it.  
They hated to admit they made a mistake.  
A little amount questioned his authority but were shut down immediately by the others. 

They didn't know he listened in, but he could hear a lot of them ask Carlos over the radio how the boss was doing and if the mansion needed more guards. 

There weren't any guards at the mansion, to not draw attention to it. After all Doc Earnhardt was more known for his abilities as a Chemist, than an actual Doctor.  
But the pirates, against what Carlos had told them to do, had established more patrols around all outposts. 

That was what he liked about his men. They were all asshohles, but they were HIS loyal asshohles.  
This was his family. Not like those backstabbing Rakyat. The pirates would follow him into a fight, even if they knew, they would die and, as they proved now, would have his back when he needed it.  
He was so proud. 

After 3 days, Vaas got up for the first time.  
He was still in a lot of pain but staying in bed all day was driving him mad.  
After Earnhardt had changed the bandages and left, Vaas stood up and sat himself in a chair, looking out of the stained window.  
His heart stopped.  
He watched as Earnhardt talked to none other that his guardian Angel.  
Up to now he was sure, she had been an hallucination.  
But no, this woman was real and she was on his island. When he saw her leave, it felt as is his heart got ripped out. 

Earnhardt didn't talk.  
He only told Vaas, that a friend was running errands for him, collecting rare medical herbs and mushrooms.  
Vaas didn't get a name, nor a place where she lived. He couldn't force him to talk ether. Unfortunately, he needed the Chemist.  
As a doctor and as a supplier.  
Instead Vaas spent his time looking out the window, waiting to get another glimpse of her.  
One day, he asked his right hand, if they found anything odd in the warehouse, around him. He remembered something hitting the floor.  
Turns out there was a lot of stuff.  
A backpack was scattered, a self written guide to Rooks fauna and a Walkie-Talkie.  
It didn’t take long to figure out that the Doc had the other Walkie-Talkie.  
Only because he nicely asked why and had the full trust of Vaas, Carlos was invited in the little circle of people knowing about his Angle.  
But he was better not telling anyone else.

It became obvious the old man wanted to hide this woman from him. He didn’t take her delivery in person anymore but put everything on a windowsill. So one day, Vaas just put the Walkie-Talkie and a pack of cigarettes there too, as a little extra. He wanted to give something back. 

After 14 days, Vaas returned home.  
The first thing on the agenda was a Party.  
His men had taken quite a few outposts back. That's what happens when you put all your eggs in one basket. Vaas knew that Jason was deeply wounded as well. He had gotten him a good few times. The only reason Vaas went down first, was that initial first hit.  
With the amount of trouble Snow White had made, the pirates didn’t have the time and resources to take the outposts back. But with him down, it was a lot easier.  
He was still a thorn in the Pirate Lords eye, but Vaas had the upper hand again. 

Things were back to normal. Kind of. Vaas still went to the Mansion fairly often to get his stitches checked. He couldn’t use his body to a full and had to keep it slow. He was told, his entire body would probably take over a year to heal all the internal damage. The outer damage would be fixed in about a month from now. Earnhardt also advised him to sleep as much as he could.  
Sleep however was the worst part of his day.  
Everytime he closed his eyes, it took maybe 2 minutes till he heard her voice.  
After 3 minutes he would see her.  
It was always the same scene. How that woman saved his life. That voice whispering to him, how it was ok, because she was there. As soon as his eyes opened, she was not there with him anymore and it was not ok.  
His chest hurt every time. 

Vaas was a man that loved enjoying himself and live his life to the best. Rook was a paradise. Drugs, Alcohol, Women. He had access to all of it. He could kill, torture and mess with people's heads as much as he desired. During one party, however, something was wrong with him. After enjoying himself with two whores, he felt horrible.  
After he kicked those 2 out, quite literally and threw a bundle of cash in their faces, Vaas laid alone in his bed. Usually he would rejoin the party, but he felt sick.  
His body was absolutely satisfied, but his mind was not.  
It wasn't that the women hadn't done their job, in fact, they had been amazing.  
It was him, who was off today.  
Everytime he had closed his eyes, her face was there. When he opened them back up, it felt disappointing to see who he actually fucked right now. All of a sudden, even the moans and please for more just went into one ear and left through the other.  
The entire mind part of the Sex had been dead on his side.  
And that was exactly how Vaas felt now, staring at the ceiling.  
It took a long while of thinking it through, but Vaas came to a conclusion.  
When he decided to invite those 2 hookers in, Vaas thought his mind and body were carving the touch of a woman.  
He was wrong.  
What the Pirate lord carved was something completely different. He did have a great time with those 2, but they did not care. They did not care for him, to be specific. They just wanted money and maybe some good dick.  
He wanted something different.  
Vaas wanted his Angel.  
He wanted that gentle caring touch, making sure he was ok.  
That soft voice, assuring him that everything was alright.  
It was ridiculous. Why should he give a fuck about those kind of things?  
Right now he didn’t even spent a thought on fucking that pussy.  
He just wanted to.. hold her?  
That was not like him.  
What did that woman do to him?

The answer was easy. She stole his heart.  
Vaas had had enough. The next day after the party, he got two of his men to go out and search for her. To find out who she was and where she went after going to the mansion.  
He himself even went as far as dedicating an entire day to just drive around, walk through bad town, drive to a lot of main points someone could be. Without any luck.

Instead of getting frustrated however, Vaas spent the time waiting for more info, with planning what he would actually do. So what would he do, if he got his hands on this woman? Lock her up in his home? it was Tempting, but would that give him what he wanted?  
Vaas sat on the beach, talking to one of his Heads in the sand, when he got an idea.  
That fucker just cried about missing his girlfriend, who was already sold and of the Island, but Vaas didn’t tell him that yet. The thing that did let him perk up, was when that fucker said something about, coming to his Island was part of their Date and how he had asked her on the night before, also on a date, if she wanted to be his girlfriend and oh how he loooooved her.  
A Date, Huh?  
That got him an idea. After his short torture session, Vaas spent the entire evening in his home, watching every movie he had. He always fast forwarded to find any scenes with these white people “Dates”.  
It came to his attention, how in movies like 90% of “Dates” were some sort of dinner. And most of them with some fancy food.  
Well.. it was better than his first plan. He could surely court his hearts thief. 

His men still had trouble finding or following his Angel, but Vaas just used some spare time to clear out a shanty with no windows, he used those for interrogating. He dumped the guy in it, into a river while bound to a rock. He didn’t have time for that man anymore! He had to plan the dinner!  
Priorities man. Because he was in a hurry while doing it, Vaas just dumped all the teeth, pliers, hammers, nails, saws, and so on into the cupboard.  
But how would he make sure she stayed through it, so the wooing could take effekt?  
That's where the cuffs came to play. He couldn't have her run away again.  
When everything was ready, he was proud if himself. 

Then it was time.  
The pirate lord was at the mansion with a few of his men. The pirates had a bunch of newcomers in their ranks for about 3 days now, so why not show two of them how to get the deliveries.  
Vaas himself needed to get to the checkup anyway.  
While he waited for them to get finished, Vaas noticed the newest note of Earnhardt to his Angel. While reading it, it was just a list of flowers, Vaas felt like someone was watching him.  
On his lookout, he didn’t noticed anyone, but someone was there.  
He just knew it.  
Taking a few more steps closer to the Jungle, he again didn’t see anyone. Whoever was there, was one with their surrounding. And whoever was there, did not seem to wanna attack him.  
It had to be her. He just knew it.  
Finally.  
Vaas chuckled.  
When his men and he ‘left’, the pirate lord sent his men back alone and went into the Jungle, making sure he was close enough to keep an eye on the mansion.  
After 15 minutes, she appeared.  
His gut was right, she had been there. 

The camo pants, black boots and grey top sure helped with the hiding.  
Vaas could see her hunting knife, sheathed at her left leg, a machete on her back, as well as a small backpack and a hunting bow. Interesting, so she hunted herself?  
The answer became very clear, once Vaas started following her in a safe distance.  
Instead of taking the dirt roads, she went straight into the lush of the jungle.  
There was intent in every step, but it seemed casual. Not once, did her head look down, still she dodged all the dangers of the jungle ground.  
All while also making near to no sound at all, if he might add.  
Where others would use that machete, she just bend around the plant life, finding another way.  
Like an epiphany, it dawned on the pirate lord.  
Usually any outsider was sooner or later swallowed by the jungle. They tried to make the jungle their bitch and instead the jungle did the same to them.  
They would fight it, but sooner or later, they would all get devoured.  
But not her.  
This woman had the jungle in her soul. She didn’t try to bend the jungle to her will, she also didn’t let it push her around, she just peacefully existed alongside it.  
The way she moved, if Vaas wouldn’t know better, he would think she was born here like him.  
It was at this moment, that any doubt was washed away.  
This was her. This was his dream of a woman.  
His queen. 

So what was he waiting for? All he had to do now was catch her. He wanted to, but he couldn't. How was he supposed to destroy this beautiful picture in front of him?  
He just kept following and staring.  
Only once she took her knife, Vaas snapped back to reality.  
After that the case was on. It was a nice try of a decoy, but the Pirate lord had seen right through it.  
Once he had catched up, that syringe with the sedative, he took from the delivery, came in really handy. Girl had a mean elbow.  
With pride and the smile of a child, that just received a lollipop, Vaas carried his prize, bridal style to the nearest outpost, to get a car.  
Sure he could just fling her over his shoulder, but this was not just some stupid bitch! This was his future nena, his Reina! 

Once in the compound, Vaas placed his dearest in his “date shanty”.  
While taking of her backpack and all her weapons, Vaas got his first actual good look at her.  
She was from the smaller side. Body and chest wise, but that, surprisingly, didn’t bother him. Normally he would say, the bigger the better, but he had seen this woman in action. A giant chest would be only hindering her. So what was this? A? B? Something like that.  
Her skin was tanned from the tropical sun. You could obviously still see she was white, probably european if he had to guess, but the tan was there.  
While taking of her hunting knife, Vaas noticed another thing. She was left handed. The way she wore her knife, the machete and her bow made it pretty clear. How did he not notice it sooner? She did cut the flowers with her left. Vaas took her left hand in his right.  
It was beautiful and soft. It was so much smaller than his. A few little scars from living in the jungle, but nothing mayor. His eyes wandered up.  
On her left forearm was a bandage.  
It seemed suspicious to Vaas. Being his curious self, he took it off. 

He wanted to shoot someone. Right now. In the dick.  
Why the fuck, did his queen have a Tatau? There on her left arm just under the elbow, was the band that started the Tatau of a warrior.  
Vaas stormed out of the shanty. He walked over to the cages with the newest captives.  
One guy, who had been mouthy since he was here, made a snarky comment.  
Exactly what Vaas wanted now. He just got that guy out of the cage and beat him to a pile of mush. After that, he went back into the shanty. Knuckles still bloody.  
He wanted to cry. His perfect reina.. was inked. And on top of that: Went his sister already so far to not only Ink outsiders, but also women as Warriors?  
But if she was with the Rakyat, why did she save his life?  
Upon further inspection, he noticed something off about it.  
It wasn't complete. Only the inside of her arm was inked. In fact it looked like a few little lines where messed up. As if someone pulled away lightly right during the hit. One line stood out the most. It looked like someone not only pulled away lightly, but with enough force to rip the skin with the tool. The skin around the tatau in general was covered with scars. It painted a pretty clear picture of how she was definitely not with his sister.  
Or at least he wished. Vaas would have to ask about it later. For now he just put her bandage back on over it. 

This definitely had put a dimmer on his perfect day.  
To finish the main setup, Vaas placed his angel in the chair and put the cuffs on. The flower in her hair, went into a vase.  
All of her belongings went into his personal home, for safekeeping. 

The sedative he used at her, was the same they used for tigers, to catch those alive and sell them off too some rich idiot wanting to keep one as a pet. It usually kept those down for about 5 hours. Meaning he had time to prepare the rest. Also there was still a bit of work to do.  
So he closed the door, locked it and went to work. 

Why didn’t she wake up?  
It had been over 7 hours now. Vaas was getting nervous. She breathed, but was completely out. He had prepared some fresh deer meat and grilled some potatoes and carrots. All by himself. If she understood the jungle just like him, she knew the importance of good nutrition and protein. The wine was in a cooler, water was at the ready.  
Just the best for the fair lady.  
All that was missing, was her.  
As the sun went down, after the 10 hour mark, Vaas got the walkie-talkie out of the woman's backpack and called the Doc.  
Doctor Earnhardt was speechless for a moment. “An adult male tiger can weigh up to 140 kg.. and you just gave that shot to a small human woman? You are lucky if she doesn't die from that!”  
Maybe he should have taken a smaller dose.  
He was told to “just make sure she can breath and has access to water as soon as she's awake.” The doctor couldn’t help any further. “If she is still breathing now there is a good chance that she will live, but i'm not sure.”

So he waited.  
It was close to midnight, when his Date could finally beginn.  
She seemed very out of it and it was annoying, but he had to cut the woman some slack. The headache was his fault after all.  
He wanted to be sly about it, but the words just kept bubbling out of his mouth as soon as he heard that sweet sweet voice again.  
It was, in his eyes, perfect, until his new men ruined it.  
Someone had messed up the restraints of a captive, they had gotten out. The problem: It was a Bitch with rich parents. They still had to film the ransom video for this one, she was very pretty and would definitely sell well and worst of all, she had a gun now and was cornered. So they needed his help. It shouldn't take long. Situations like this never did. He already knew what would happen with that girl after he took the gun away. He would lock her up in another shanty just like this. No windows, no furniture, no escape. Just her, a metal door and darkness. One or two days in there without anything usually did the trick with these kind of product. 

As he left, Vaas grabbed the Key from the shelf and just for fun, he also activated the video camera he had in there. Maybe he would catch something funny.  
While explaining his short absence, the loud stomach growl got him. It did sound very cute and got a chuckle from him, but it was not a good sign.  
He was responsible for that. After all she was out for a good 12-13 hours or so. Who knew if she had even eaten or drank anything before he put her down! That wasn’t healthy! He had to keep his girl healthy! What kind of man would he be if he didn’t do that?  
So it would be ok if she started without him. After all he had a LOT of questions he wanted to ask her. So the less time she spent eating with him, the better.  
Something in him couldn't resist and he just had to leave a little kiss on her hair. He finally had his queen with him.  
Vaas left, locking the door behind him. She had light, water and food. Also he would not be gone for long. 

25 minutes. That STUPID FUCKING BITCH had cost him 25 minutes! If she wouldn’t be worth so much money, he would have just knocked her out. But no, he was good as his job. He didn’t damage product!  
So, now with that bitch, tied up in her new home for the next 2 days, Vaas could finally get back to his nena.  
After unlocking the door, the door handle didn’t budge. “What the..”  
After 5 minutes of trying to kick the door open and repeatedly getting more and more pissed and louder in his yells for “OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR NENA! YOU BETTER BE IN THERE!” and those things, the door gave in. Or rather the chair that was wedged under the door knob.  
Empty.  
The FUCKING room was EMPTY!  
The chair, his angel had been in, was destroyed on the ground by the door. The handcuffs, were open and the candle blown out. Her plate only missed a few Veggies the rest was untouched.  
But in front of the plate, there was the camera. On the table was a message written in Ballpen.  
“1. I’m sorry!  
2\. play me, when you are less angry --->  
-L”  
The arrow pointed towards the camera. 

How? How did she get out?  
Vaas was still furious, but the message calmed him a little bit.  
At least she seemed to be sorry and left him a message.  
He took the camera in hand. It had recorded for 13 Minutes.  
FINE. He would follow her wish and watch it the next morning. BUT! If it was not a satisfying excuse for why the fuck she would ditch HIM on the date HE had planned for THEM, he would just go with his first plan and lock her up in his home. 

This night, he slept even worse.

Unfortunately the next day he had to get to Pirate Cove pretty early in the morning. He packed the camera and went recording a few ransom videos. It was fun, and actually lifted his mood pretty good. One guy however, went on his nerves a bit too much and with one punch, he was out cold.  
Whoops.  
Well now he had some time, that fuck was the last captive he had to record for today. Not counting the rich bitch from last night, of course.  
That meant Vaas had finally time to watch the little video of his Angel's grand escape.

The video started with him turning the camera on and the little exchange they had, before he left.  
About 15 seconds after the sound from the door lock faded, she went to work.  
With the steak knife, she scratched the table, forcing a big splinter out.  
“i sure hope this works.” it was a mumble, but this was a pretty good camera. He loved it. It was the camera he filmed his good time with chris with. He missed that man. But now he had a great camera to remember him by.  
Vaas had to give it to this woman, she just unlocked the cuffs with a wooden splinter. As soon as she was standing, the chair was wedged under the door.  
“..ok.. and now.” She came closer and searched the shelf. “uhh!” the clicking of a balpen was heard. It landed behind her ear. “What else do we have he- wait a minute.” She was staring right into the lens. It got a chuckle out of the Pirate lord. “are you fucking filming me right now?!” the camera was picked up and turned around.  
“Holy shit you actually are. Ok.. thats A: Creepy as FUCK and B: super helpful because now i don't have to write shit down.” she set the camera back.  
“ok so imma explain this real quick. No wait, i won't. Still gotta find something!” with that she kept on searching, something?  
As she walked to the cupboard. Vaas kind of anticipated the jump, when she opened it. “Heilige Scheiße!! (holy, shit!!)"  
The young woman made a turn towards the camera and looked at it with this confused and slightly disgusted look on her face. “Why??” She looked back at the cupboard, back at the camera and pointed with both hands to the cupboard. “Why? Just why?” slumping her shoulders, she went to look through the cupboard with a silent. “ew.. If you wanna make a necklace, keep it for yourself.”  
within seconds she found something. “Nice!” she held a multitool into the camera. Oh yeah that thing. He had used that once on the guy it belonged to. That was fun.  
“Ok now i have what i need. By the way i am keeping this too! Because none of my shit is here and i gotta have something to defend myself with.” She lifted her steak knife up. 

“Ok now let's get to the important part. You're mad. I know. I am sorry.” She leaned backwards on the table while looking at the camera. “First things first. This” she gestures behind her. “is.. weirdly nice. You clearly put a lot of effort into this. This… and i can't believe i am actually saying this” the last part was mumbled. “Is more effort than what any guy has ever done for me. I just want to put that out of the way. This is kind of.. Pretty cool and damn adorable. Not gonna lie.” she broke eye contact and looked to the floor. “And i really can’t cope the things you just said to me. That's gonna take a bit to sit down.. Sorry bout that. I am just not used to these kind of things.. That was.. just.. wow.. i uhm.. should get to the point. I'm wasting time.” She put both of her hands, with a soft slap, on her cheeks, while saying she was wasting time. She did it not fast enough to hide that light blush she had during that entire part.

“All of this is super nice and pretty sweet. Which is probably why you are asking yourself, why i'm breaking out right now. Couple of reasons, actually. First of.. I am super freaked out. You just chased me down in the jungle and injected SOMETHING into me.” Her right hand was on the little bruise on her neck. She still didn’t look into the camera. “Then i wake up here. CHAINED to a table. In a room with no widows.” Her left arm gestured everything.  
“I feel like a car hit me! How long was i out? Even you seemed concerned and you are the one who did this to me! That is super not assuring, that i am ok! What happened to me while i was out? My stuff is gone! You used my lighter that i keep in my front pockets! What did you do to my body?” She shivered and hugged herself. Again a loud stomach growl was heard. 

His Nena grabbed behind her to get her plate. She ate a few carrots and potatoes. Finally her eyes were back on the camera as she continued talking.  
“Those are great, by the way. Hats off to who made it.” She put the plate away. “I'm not gonna touch the meat. What brings me to the next thing. All of the things i just said, combined with the fact, that i know of at least 3 cannibals on this island and that i know of that time YOU fed a guy his best friends leg… I am very sorry but you can’t seriously expect me to eat this right?”  
He saw tears forming in her eyes. He was a bit offended.  
“Same for the pill. A unlabeled, lose, white pill... I know it is probably really just ibuprofen, but yet again: You have access to basically every drug on this island. You drugged me once today already. So what would keep you from doing it again?”  
She turned around and blew out the candle.  
“I have to go.. i am basically running on nothing but adrenaline now.. By the way, i am not accusing you for this. I don't know, what meat that is. I don't know what pill that is. I only know who you are and what you do for fun. And right now i have no idea if this is all just a cruel game of yours. Please keep that in mind.. I have to look out for myself.”  
He watched her write the note. She took a deep breath wiping the tears away.  
“... how about this: I.. i am gonna regret this won’t i?” That last part was more for her it seemed. “The thing is: All i wanted today, was to go to the beach and have a relatively silent and peaceful day. The last few weeks have been hard.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  
“So.. here is the deal.. the way i walked when i picked the flowers. If you head in that direction, you cross the main street at the coast. After that, of you keep going in the same direction there is this blob.” She traced a shape with 2 fingers. “In the blob, there is a beach to the west, that is visible from the coast. but if you keep going north, there is a pretty well hidden beach at the northern side. So.. If you… just want to talk. Lets talk. But please on neutral ground…. or well.. as neutral as it gets. I mean this is your island after all. But it is not here.”  
She pointed to the floor. “i am gonna take a wild guess and say, here is in your main place? And that is pretty fucking scary! All of this is scary. Listen… if you JUST want to talk. Nothing more, nothing less. Food from foraging from the beach aside, cause that's what i will do. I will go there after 2 days of a break from now. 3 if it rains. And i will be there probably the entire day from whenever i get to go there, lunchtime at the latest, to before sundown. But first i gotta get me settled... without my gear..God, getting home is going to suuuuuck. Maybe i should crash at my friends.. What time is ist? Anyway.. I am really running out of time here. You could be back any second now.” A gunshot was heard and she winced. Vaas had shot a guy in the leg, that yelled at him for making his friend cry. “Yeahh.. I’m uh.. Ima get going! Bye!” with that the video ended. 

That was something. A part of him wanted to get angry again. She didn't believe him?  
But instead of getting angry, he finally understood.  
It was once again a proof of the jungle in her heart.  
Of course she ran away from him here.  
This room and the chains had functioned as a cage, trapping her here with him. He was the biggest predator on Rook. The entire northern Island was his territory, but his Fortress was the heart of it. Taking away her equipment and chaining her in place, he left his Angel defenseless and trapped with, what he thought, no escape.  
It was instinct to run from a confrontation here.  
She was as nimble as leopard, a master of stealth. Disappearing into the jungle as if she was never there.  
He was a Tiger, king of the jungle.  
He was bigger, stronger, faster and deadlier. He could tare into her with ease. Ripping her apart and just taking whatever he wants. Leaving nothing but bones for the Vultures to pic at.  
Of course she had to be careful.  
This was a sign of respect.  
She knew what she dealt with here. A leopard that dared to step into a tigers den was sure to be killed by it.  
Was he gonna go to that beach? Definitely. And he also just decided to bring all ger gear as a peace offering. After all, he had to give this leopard her claws back. Vaas had to somehow show, he wasn't a threat. Well, at least not to her. 

Vaas was standing behind his Captives stool, leaning on his head while he had watched the video. Taking the last drag from his cigar, he pushed it out on the unconscious captives shoulder, waking him up.  
He was in a really good mood for the last ransom video.  
After all.  
He had a second date.


	7. You did WHAT?!

Liz woke up late in the day. Her throat dry, her stomach rumbling and a head like an anvil. On the small couch table was a bottle of water, a pack of painkillers and a note. 

“Left some sandwiches in the fridge.  
-J.J”

After a good breakfast, a painkiller and a loooong shower, Liz was chilling on the couch in her brothers clothes. Some comfy pants from Jonas and a big shirt from Flo.  
How was she gonna explain that trainwreck yesterday to her brothers?  
She not only got kidnapped, forced into a movie like candlelight dinner and ran away.  
She basically, invited the sadist that did this to her, who either wanted to torture her, had an actual obsession or, most unlikely, was serious with this confession, to hang out with her at a beach. Alone. On HER beach. Lisa’s safe place for times she needed a break.  
This was insane!  
And she now only had the rest of today and tomorrow to think about it. The day after that was already the day she said she would go there. If Liz wasn’t gonna show up, Vaas would probably get mad enough to just kill her the next time she was seen.  
He had told her, his men were looking for her. What if any of them could lead Vaas to her brothers? What if, should she mess up with him, he was going to come for her family? 

He did seem genuine about what he said. On the other hand he probably was a pretty good liar. Also if he was genuine about it, why would he knock her out, kidnap and chain her up? Why not just approach her and talk. You know, like an adult.  
It also didn’t make sense. How was he supposed to like her, if the last time they met, she was in a cage, broke out and was never seen after that for nearly 2 years?  
The only other time they had seen each other was, when she did the first aid. Liz wasn’t even fully there when she did that. He was not fully there when she did that.  
This was all just such a Mess!

(conversation in german)  
“You were WHAT?!” Jonas was stunned, before putting his shirt the rest of the way off. Flo just closed the door behind him and looked concerned to his sister, still lounging on the couch. After a short moment of silence Flo opened his mouth. “Did you seriously just answer my ‘Hey, how was your day’ with ‘i was drugged and kidnapped, yesterday.’??”  
“Yes.”  
Nearly at the same moment, both her brothers stood around the couch. “Holy shit! Are you ok?!” Flo sat next to her, Jonas grabbed a fresh shirt and got himself a chair. “Yes i’m ok. It was just very weird and scary..”  
“Who are we beating up for that?” Jonas sounded a bit too serious about this for her taste. “Better question! How did you get away? Who was it and what did they do to you?” Flo seemed a bit more level headed.  
“I was walking to the beach, after picking up the new errand for Alec. Va..Iro-man must have spotted me at the mansion. Which is weird! I waited for 15 minutes after they left! He was just walking behind me for ages, apparently studying my way of the jungle. Only when i noticed him and started to bolt away, he actually got closer and well.. managed to inject me with something.” “That motherfucker!” “Jonas relax! Let her finish.” “Relax?? That Asshole drug-” “She is here and she’s fine. I’ve heard you had an awful day, Jonas. No need to lose you calm now. I can’t believe i have to be the responsible of us two right now! Let her finish!”  
“It is surprisingly not as bad as you think J-J. My wrist is a bit sprained, but aside from that he didn’t hurt me.” It calmed the oldest sibling a bit down. “..Sorry for yelling. I.. I’m just worried.” Liz smiled at him. “I know. Anyway. When i woke up and don’t get too worried about that guys, i was in a chair, with my hands cuffed to a table. Stay with me cause now it gets really weird.” 

Liz described everything to some detail. She did not repeat the compliments and just summed that up with. “Iro-man might have developed a crush on me for saving his life. He said a lot of very nice things. I don’t take those seriously, don’t worry! He could and probably is lying about it all to mess with me.” You could watch her brothers chins hitting falling deeper and deeper until they hit the floor, during her retelling of the entire thing, including her message.  
“....and i.. well.. I told him, if he wants to talk and just talk. A peaceful talk between two adults, i'll be there at beach after a 2 days break. So i can try and cope with this info and then i got out of there.”  
Both brothers looked at one another, before looking to her.  
Like twins they said: “You did WHAT?”  
“I panicked! What was i supposed to do? I just told him all the horrible things that went wrong with something, he clear as day put a lot of effort in! I couldn’t just leave without giving him a chance to explain himself. Also I was scared what he would do! Honestly, he probably won't even show up at the beach. I gave no indication that i was interested. I only said let's have a talk.”  
“Uhm.. yeah! You should have just bolted, after telling him off! That guy is a Lunatic!”  
This time Jonas was the calmer of the two. “No. I get it. Flo your right, he is a Lunatic, a Psychopath and a lot more. This guy is unpredictable. But that’s what would have made leaving like that suicide. Will you go alone, or should we come with you? We could be hiding in the bushes and help is you need it.”  
“Don’t. No offense guys, but you would be spotted. Also i can’t remember for sure what i said word for word, but i think i’ve put emphasis on ‘alone’ and ‘as neutral ground as possible’. That's why i chose the beach. It’s the one place, next to my home and yours, that i feel safe in. Sure it’s not a good place for a getaway, but let's be honest. I wasn’t able to get away with a 20 meter head start. I won’t be getting away if we are anywhere close to one another. I just feel more calm there and i think that's what i need for a conversation like that. Also, this time i am not gonna get jumped, cause I am the one who decided when and where. I made my problems with his approach very clear. I am sure, in a normal conversation, he is going to realize, I am not what he is looking for and that will be it.”  
Her brothers sighed.  
“Look, this is dangerous. We trust you with your decisions, but.. Let's be honest. I don’t think any of us, can take this place without the others. I think i speak for both Flo and me, that we wouldn’t know what we would do without you or if something would happen to you. If this guy starts to threaten you or tries to force you to do something you don’t want or tries to..” He didn’t finish that sentence, but everyone in the room knew what was ment. Liz shrank down. In all the hectik she hadn’t thought about the possibility. Her brother was right. Vaas could force himself on her, not only in a “date me or i will kill you family” way, but quite literally rape her right there.  
“.. please promise me to kick him in the balls as hard as you can and run. I know it is not your style, but run to the street, steal a car and get here.”  
“.. I promise.”  
Sitting right next to her on the couch, Florian did, what he did best and pulled his baby sister into his signature bear-hug. “Don’t worry! That is just the absolute worst case! We just want you to be careful! It's probably going to be nothing, like you said. But Jonas is also still right. If any funny business is happening.. Tactical retreat is not a shame. Home base is getting defended Sgt.Liz.”  
A short chuckle in his arms, turned into a sob, into two and then a sobbing mess.  
“Love you two. So so much.” Liz really didn’t know what to do without them. Sure Alec was a friend, but if anything ever happened to her brothers, she would collapse. They were the support system for each other.  
“We love you too!” Flos hug tightened and Jonas stood up to make it a group hug. They all shed a little tear together. 

After all that, Liz decided to be the cook for tonight. Flo and Jonas went out for a smoke.  
At dinner, she had to add something to the story.  
"You know what was also weird? He kept calling me Nena for some reason? Like why? Ok i am german, but why comparing me to Nena? I never once sang and we look nothing alike!"  
Flo, who picked Spanish back in school, face-palmed himself while losing it, laughing.  
"Oh god.." Jonas rolled his eyes. He had learned a tad Spanish from the locals.  
"It.. It is.." Flo had to calm down first. "He doesn't mean the singer Nena!" He busted out laughing again.  
"What? What is it then?? Guys! Don't let me die stupid."  
Flo had to fan himself some air with his hands to dry the laughing tears but managed to tell her.  
"It is a spanish pet name. It means Baby baysically. This guy is actively flirting and YOU THINK HE IS TALKING ABOUT NENAA!" Flo fell from his seat on the chair and rolled on the floor, wheezing, nearly pissing himself laughing.  
"oh.. Uhm." Her entire face was red.  
"Not gonna lie, i would pay money to see that!" Jonas grinned from ear to ear. He began imitating a conversation with his hands.  
"Hey, why are you always calling me Nena?" the left hand said.  
"Because that's what you are, Nena" the right hand answered smug.  
"Yeah but i look nothing like her, also she's like over 50. Yeez. Is this you way of coping a celebrity crush?" Left had Liz let held her hand head to the side.  
"What now?" Right hand was very confused.  
"Well that's super weird. Goodbye." and left hand left while humming the melody of '99 Luftballons' from Nena.  
Both brothers were laughing now and liz couldn't help but laugh with them.  
"God you are going to tease me with this for the rest of my life now, aren't you?"  
Jonas put an arm around her shoulder.  
"That's is exactly what we will do. What are brothers for?"  
And so the newest inside joke was born.  
They had a great evening, playing cards and singing songs from Nena. 

The night was good. Liz actually got some quality sleep in, against all odds.  
Now she had one full day, to prepare for the beach.  
In the morning she changed her clothes back from the comfy borrowed clothes, to her clothes from then “Dinner Day.” Jonas and Flo had given her a small satchel, a survival knife with a flint in the hilt and some water for the way back to her little cave she called home. 

It was a sunny day again and the jungle was as alive as ever. The walk back home went without an incident, but Liz felt a bit naked without her bow.  
At home she first got a change of clothes. Liz switched her grey top with a dark green one and her camo pants with a different pair of camo pants. This one had a wider pattern of the spots. The young woman also packed some fresh underwear and a new also dark green top for tomorrow.  
Last night the survivor siblings had decided to go to the bar the night before beach day. Florian had to work, Jonas needed a break and she could use some fun before the big day. With her brother behind the bar, it was also way easier to order alcohol free drinks. Sure back at home she drank a Cocktail or a single beer every now and then, but ever since she was on Rook? Not a drop. Liz wanted a clear head 24/7. She knew Florian often and Jonas occasionally smoked some weed, but they never overdid it. Also as long as they kept their hands off from anything beyond that, everything was fine.  
Her usual swimwear was lost in her backpack back with Vaas, so she would just have to go in her full usual clothes it seemed. 

The evening with her brothers was great! They sat together at the bar, talked a lot about Jonas’s work, Florians crush on a local woman, how he was too shy to talk to her, Lisa's new ideas for trinkets to help their every day chores and so on. It was somewhat weird how good of a time she had. Her brothers did this pretty often, but she always dodged joining them. Ever since she overheard that conversation, she wanted to stay away from places like this.  
With her and Jonas at the bar and Flo running the bar, handing out drinks to the tables, she and had some extra time to come up with ways to help her brother in his work problems. She had been a farmchild but wanted to work in a different direction. She instead was a certified watchmaker. Tinkering with small things, making a system work, it was just great! Also a very useful skill in the jungle as it turned out! Being best friends that turned into siblings, they had a bit of a banter and teasing, turning into sidehugs, light elbow punches to the side and a lot of laughter. 

When Liz decided it was time for bed, she took Jonas with her. The man was smashed. Saying good night to her sober brother behind the bar, she left. Flo paid their tab as always. Walking Jonas home was annoying and fun at the same time. With her oldest brother finally snoring in bed, Liz went to sleep. After all, she had to get up early tomorrow.


	8. Beach day

After a quick, cold morning shower, Liz left the home of her brothers. Flo had come home about 3 minutes after she had woken up. There were a lot of people at the bar till the sun came out, so he had helped the guy who was supposed to work the next shift alone. The man just gave her a goodbye hug and fell into his bed. 

The smal stachel from her boys was filled with some water, a pair of shorts she napped from Jonas, the stolen steak knife, multitool and a bit of pepper. The survival knife was in a sheath on her belt.   
Making sure that no one was in sight, Liz crossed the main road at the northern coast.   
She was about 15 minutes of a walk away from the beach.   
She would lie, if she would say, there was no fear settling in her gut. Still she pressed forward. Lisa had made the decision to invite this guy to hang out and talk, so she had to get through with it! 

While getting closer, to where the jungle met the sand, she got herself some fresh fruit. A few lemons for cooking and fresh mango from a tree, eating the latter one with her knife, while walking. The beach wasn’t very big. One good look told her it was empty.   
It took a bit of her unwell feeling away. Under one palm tree sat a little wooden chest. It was made from wood she had found in the area and some nails. In it were her pot and pan she kept for seafood. A ring of stones marked her usual fireplace. Next to it a big flat stone, functioning as a preparation plate. It was far enough from the treeline that a gust of wind wouldn't bring the cinders too close to the plants, but thanks to the sun being in her back most of the day, it was still in the shade. One single palm tree was further out then the others and made a perfect leaning opportunity.   
Liz placed her cooking tools next to the fireplace and went to gather some wood.   
Her plan was to have a nice day and eat some seafood after all! 

The fire was prepared and only needed to be lit, her utensils were in place, all she needed now was the seafood. 

Taking of her boots and pants, Liz got into her brothers shorts. She had to bind them pretty tight, but when was the last time she had gotten her hands on fitting pants? She did wore a sports bra today, it was one of her most treasured finds, but with the possibility of Vaas showing up, she prefered going in the water with her top on. Without a blanket, she was sure to get sand in her clothes immediately. Also beheading coconuts with a survival knife turned out way harder than with a machete. Man, she missed her stuff.  
For a few moments, she just sat there and relaxed. The sound of the sea and the light breeze, it brought with it, was medicine for her soul. When her coconut was out of it’s water, Liz made herself ready for a dive. 

The sand felt great between her toes and that first wave catching her feet, as she slowly walked into the ocean. It felt like freedom. Liz closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath of the salty ocean air.   
It was ironic how she could feel this free on an island that she was trapped on. She wanted to stay this free. Taking pride in the fact she could do nearly everything she wanted, without disturbing others of course. Walking this island independently. She was Lisa Kaffkind (German slang vor village kid). The little sister of Jonas Kaffkind and Florian Kaffkind. She got to call them J-J and Flo, they got to call her Liz. Their new family name was decided by all 3 of them together. They were more than just friends now.   
They were a family. 

She didn’t think about her old name. As much as it hurt to never see her family and the friends, that hadn't been part of this trip, again, they all had to look forward.   
She was free, slowly becoming more and more of a local on Rook. Her brothers had found some new friendships in Bad town and were well established by now. Those 2 were her most treasured people and without them she would have never escaped. No one would have escaped that night, if it wasn't for the trio and a bit of luck.  
She was Lisa "Liz" Kaffkind, she was not gonna be owned by anyone.   
Only over her dead body. 

The water was at her chest now. Her top felt heavy, as Liz took a deep breath and dived into the deep blue ocean.   
The salt in her eyes burned. It had become easier to push through it, but it never went away.   
The water here was clean too. You could see so far out, it was just stunning.   
A first good look told her, today was gonna be great. 

While the middle of the secret beach was beautiful and the water had fishes, the sides, where beach met cliff, was different. Many little caves had formed over the years of waves crashing into them. Perfect homes for crabs and lobsters.   
Huge boulders functioned as anchor points for different shellfish. Some starfish, water snails and tiny fish enjoyed the peace.   
She took a few minutes to just enjoy the water.   
The ocean air, letting the waves move her body in calming motions. It felt great.  
After about 15 minutes, of relaxed drifting, Liz dived down again.

On the floor, to her delight, a big ass crab just walked out of its hiding hohle. Probably looking for food. She couldn't tell the species, but it was big enough, with way too long legs, she’d have to hold it with 2 hands.   
Poor crab. The rule of survival was eat or get eaten. With a smile, she got to the surface. Hopefully she could manage to get that beast out, without getting snapped by its humongous claws.   
Liz prepared mentally, took a few deep breaths and she was under water again. 

Swimming as relaxed as possible, to not alarm it, Liz positioned herself behind the crab and grabbed it. She had aimed for the point, where the hind legs connected to the main body. Like that, it had no chance to reach her, as long as she pointed the crab away from her that is.   
Swimming upwards was a bit more of a challenge, no arms to use and a crab trying to snap her and swim away. Liz surfaced close and with her back to the boulders. 

"Ha! Der Sieg ist mein! (Victory is mine!)" She lifted the crab out of the water.   
"Peekaboo!" it was right by her ear and Liz not only winced but completely jumped. "JESUS!" In the process she had let go of the crab. A fast look behind her revealed Vaas. He was crouching on the boulder she had dived by. For a moment she looked at him with shock, while he had a shit eating grin on his face. 

"OH FUCK! MY CRAB!" Liz got back down into the water and pushed herself from the boulder faster down, to catch up. This time, not getting snapped was a lot harder. She had to approach from the side while it fled from her.   
It took nearly all her oxygen to get the thing.   
While she was doing her best to get the crab and herself out of the deeper water, Vaas seemed to have a great time chuckling to himself and watching the fight of girl vs big fuck of crab. 

Finally with sand under her feet, Liz took the Crab to a sharp point of a boulder. "Das folgende tut mir leid aber du schmeckst zu gut. (I am sorry for what comes next, but you taste too good.)" With a good amount of force Liz smashed the sharp point into the crabs upper body. It went limp after a few seconds.   
Finally she got to take a relaxed breath.  
A slow clap, the chuckle and footsteps in the sand caught her attention.  
"Not bad, Nena. What a show!" Vaas stood at the shore looking at her. She herself was still to her navel in the water.   
With an annoyed look in her eyes she glared at the pirate, while ripping of the top shell of the crab.  
"Oh Ha. Ha. Very funny." She did not have to look at the crab to take out the gills and wash out the goop. She didn't mean to sound so sassy either, but he nearly ruined her crab feast, again! 

The mimic of Vass's face changed a bit. His eyes lost the teasing smile and his mouth went into more of a line than a smirk. "Having a good time here, i see. That's good.."   
It sounded a bit ominous, but Liz wanted to make a point here. Sure she couldn't be an asshole to him or she would probably die, but she was not gonna let him walk all over her either.   
She just smiled. "Yeah." her eyes went out to the ocean for a moment.   
"This is the best place on the entire island… Or well, you know. In my opinion." She left the crab's top shell, gills and all the parts she didn't need on a rock. The birds would take care of that.   
Liz left the water completely and walked in the direction of her prepared fireplace. After passing the man, he walked beside her.   
She gave him the side eye, just to see he did the same. They both did not break eye contact.  
Liz was getting nervous. Vaas looked pretty sure of himself, but there was also a spark in his eyes, as if something was wrong. Something bothered him deep in his eyes and that was scary as fuck for Liz. ‘Not happy’-Vaas meant ‘aggressive and even more unpredictable’-Vaas.   
Never a good sign. 

About 5 meters from the fireplace, the Pirate Lord stopped walking. Her confused and questioning look was answered with a presenting arm motion towards the fireplace. 

To Liz's big surprise, next to her boots, pants and stachel, a good meter from the prepared fire, was her backpack with all her gear.   
It was placed on the blanket she had packed. Bow, machete and hunting knife, neatly placed next to one another. "Wh..what the.."   
"Don't you want them back, nena?" Vaas must have used her confusion, because he was now right behind her. Ignoring the shiver, that ran down her spine, telling her to run, grab her stuff and bolt, she waited. This sounded fishy. There was no way he was just going to give her everything back right?   
Apparently her pause was too long for Vaas. He closed the distance behind her a bit more. Liz could feel his breath on her wet hair. "So i was wrong? You don't wa-" "I DO!.. I do want them back.. But.. This doesn't make any sense." She took half a step forward and turned around.   
"Why are you giving me all of that back? Just like that? Why?" 

The man before her smiled, but his eyes did not. "Well, i WAS just going to give you this as a offering of peace. Pretty obvious you were feeling defenseless back then and i wanted to change that. You know, honoring you wishes, showing that i can listen and treat MY girl right... but you don't want peace, do you?" His voice changed and not in a good way.   
"So yes. Let's play this game differently." Vaas started taking steps towards her. Liz answered with stepping back. She wanted to turn around and run, but her eyes were trapped in his. She could see the rage build and how it was only held back by a string of something unknown to her.

"Here i am, opening to my Angel, forgiving you for running away, honoring YOUR wishes, being worried sick, feeling bad and even giving you back your claws!" Vaas got louder and louder. His face turning into the grimace of the angry, tempered lunatic he was. She held the crab as some sort of a barrier between them, but it got smacked out of her hands landing in the sand to the side.   
Liz stumbled backwards and landed next to the firepit. She watched in horror how the Pirate Lord towered over her.   
"And what do you do?" It was a whisper, but loud enough for her to hear. He was crouching over her body. It was as if she looked into the eyes of a giant beast ready to strike and kill. Liz was terrified. Her entire body shivered, paralyzed by fear as tears formed in her eyes. She was trapped.   
"YOU GO AND FUCK ANOTHER GUY THE FUCKING NIGHT BEFORE OUR SECOND DATE, LIKE A FUCKING WHORE!"   
Vaas's fist connected with the sand next to her head, scattering it.   
"w.. What?"   
"YOU FUCKING HEARD ME!" The second fist shot down, on the other side of her head.  
"but.."   
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!!" Vaas face was way too close to hers. The spit from shouting landed in her face. "MY MEN FUCKING SAW YOU! YOU STUPID FUCKING..! HOW FUCKING DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME! YOU BELONG TO ME!! BUT YOU FUCKING WENT AND SUCKED SOME FUCKERS DICK!.. YOU STUPID FUCKING BITCH! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME? AARHG! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE FUCKING PERFECT, NENA!!!" 

Hurt. All the anger and insanity aside, you could hear, see and even feel, Vaas was hurt.   
He breathed heavily over her, kneeling over her body now, instead of crouching. Trapping her even more, but he never broke eye contact. He waited for something.  
Liz had to think for a moment. Staring back into the deep green like a deer in headlights, until she finally found her voice. 

"Are you talking about my brother?" Liz was silent, scared and careful.   
No reaction, but a small shimmer hidden deep in those raging eyes.   
"Last night, i was in Bad Town, in a bar, with my older brother. I helped him walk home and crashed at his place. Is that what you're talking about?"   
The face over her did not move a an inch, but his hands left the sand to lay on both of her cheeks.   
"Nothing happened, Vaas. He is my brother. It would be pretty damn fucked up, if i would sleep with my older brother wouldn't it?" Liz was hurt. She was scared, violated and angry, but a weird calmness had come over her.   
If she would answer his yelling with more yelling, it wouldn't get them anywhere. 

The rage slowly faded and Vaas let his head fall on her collarbone. They stayed like this for a while. It was uncomfortable for Liz, but she still lifted her left hand and gave the man a few light pads on the back.   
"Maybe just ask me, before jumping to conclusions on what someone saw. I did say i wanted to talk.. And i did say i was gonna crash at a friends place in my message, didn't i?"   
She could feel the tension loosening in the hands on her face.   
"What are you doing to me, nena?" it was a mere insecure whisper and so out of character for the loud and sure Vaas Montenegro.   
He seemed so confused.   
"I don't know.. But-"   
"What's his name?"   
"My brother? I am sorry.. But i don't know if should tell you that. I don't want him to get too involved into this.. Whatever ‘this’ is." Liz was soothing the giant form, letting her hand glide in a circle. 

"What is your name?" this one got her off guard. For a moment she thought about lying, but this entire situation was weird and.. Honest?   
"You.. Don't know it? Well.. I guess it is only fair to ask. I know your name after all. My name is Liz.. Well Lisa, but most people just call me Liz." It was still uncomfortable because he violated her personal space pretty hard right now. 

She kind of had to smile anyway, it felt weird to think that the Pirate Lord of Rook, a man feared by basically everyone, was hiding his face in the crook of her neck for the past 15 minutes.   
Probably out of shame for yelling at her with no reason. He was known as pretty prideful and admitting he was wrong was probably not easy. She imagined he would usually just bounce back, but this was obviously special to him and all the more embarrassing. He had believed her a bit too easy, but on the other hand Liz was a horrible liar and Vaas probably saw in her eyes she told the truth.   
His breath was a relieved one ever since he got in this position. This entire situation actually meant something to this man.   
A lot to be specific.   
He did not only sound like a jealous asshole, but his voice had a crack.   
It sounded heartbroken. 

"You were actually serious about the things you said that night." It wasn't a question. It was a realization. A confirmation so to speak.   
His answer was a somewhat happy sigh.   
"Ok.. How about we start respecting each other's personal space again, get some food and talk this through?"   
No reaction. 

"Okay.. I do have to warn you though. You are way too close for a man, i know barely anything about, on an Island filled with men who murder, pillage and rape. I promised my brothers, that i will kick you in the balls, if you do this kind of shit and if you haven't noticed my knee is in perfect position to do so. Just so you know."  
After one deep breath the hands left her face and the Pirate Lord sat back on his knees, looking down on her, but not her eyes. Without a word he stood up and sat down on the blanket.  
It took Liz a moment to gather herself before getting up.   
Her entire back was covered with sand, hair included and her crab laid in the sand as well. To look at the bright side, she just survived a rage explosion from Vaas. 

Grabbing her pot and crab, Liz made her way over to the shore. She washed the sand of herself, the crab and filled the pot with seawater.   
While at it, she found a few scallops as well and threw them in the pot too.   
While walking back, she dared a look at Vaas. He was sitting there, smoking a cigar and staring at the ocean. He was oddly silent, but maybe that was still because of what happened. She could practically see all the thoughts racing in his brain. 

The fire was lit, the water boiling. Liz dumped the crab in and began cutting open the scallops. Vaas hadn't spoken or looked in her direction for over 15 minutes now and it began freaking the woman out. What was he planning?   
"Do you want some too?" she held a scallop under his nose. "Sure." He took it from her, held his cigar between his lips and cracked it open with his knife, before handing the scallop back.   
They cracked a few together.   
She threw those in the pan and gave them a little roast with the lemon juice in top. Once everything was ready, she placed it on a big leaf.   
It looked pretty amazing and tasted even better.   
Sure eating crab was always a fumbling work, but it was worth the taste!  
At one point, Vaas had taken out a bottle of red wine. "Argentine red wine. It's the best."   
Liz declined. "Sorry.. I am not a wine person.. I also like having a clear head, no offense. But see the bright side! There is more for you!"   
He didn't seem happy with it, but right now he couldn't do anything else but accept it. 

After a while of silent eating, Liz sighed.   
"So. I have no idea how to start this conversation. Let's just.. You know what? This is weird and crazy and it makes no sense, I even suggested this meetup, so let's just go a step further in the stupidity scale. Let's start this from zero." Liz looked at Vaas. They both sat on the blanket, the leafy plate of food between them as a barrier placed by Liz.   
The man just lifted an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"   
His answer was an outstretched hand in his direction.   
"Hi! My name is Lisa Kaffkind, my friends call me Liz. Nice to meet you. And you are?"   
Laughter. A full on belly laugh bursted out of the pirate lord and it confused Liz like nothing else.   
"Fine! How about you start a conversation then? Hm? After all i suggested this only cause i felt bad for bolting on you preparations. The good ones that is."

"I get it." Vaas nodded. "I do, really! You made it pretty clear. Guess why i am glad to give you all this back, nena." Vaas handed her her knife. She still hadn't put on her things.   
"As much as i may want to, i won't be able to cage you, will i?"   
"uh nope!"   
A chuckle. "That's what i thought." He leaned back against the palm tree. "So i have to make sure you survive." now it was her time to chuckle and make him look confused. "What's so funny, nena?"   
"Sorry if this sounds rude, but i don't think you need to make sure of that. I am running this gig for about 2 years by now. I will admit though it is nice of you to offer help." 

"2 years hu? Come to think of it." Vaas sat up straight again and looked at her with more curiosity and also a mischievous smile. "You are not from here and i can't remember, ever seeing you, nena. Where the fuck did you come from and what exactly are you doing in my paradise."  
That was a big one. Not only had he not known her name, but he also forgot she had been a captive once?   
"I.. Uhm."   
"Come on, mi reina, tell me. I won't bite." It was a very unsettling purr.   
"Are you sure? Cause i am kind of sure, you won't like it." Liz did not. Like the direction of this. Vaas got visibly annoyed again. 

"Ok, ok fine.. But you have to promise me something!" Liz swallowed but continued on. "When i tell you. It will change nothing. Ok? It won't change the situation, people are in right now and won't bring late consequences. It has been 2 years after all."  
The pirate lord narrowed his eyes, thought for a moment, drank another sip of wine and then nodded.  
"Fine.. But only if you tell me why the fuck you are inked."   
Ouch. 

Subconsciously, Liz grabbed the spot on her arm, covered by the bandage. ".. You looked."   
"Of course, nena. Had to make sure there aren't any wounds, i had to take care of. I wanted to cry as i saw it." he let out a little unhappy laugh. "My beautiful, perfect reina, inked by these fuckers.. But it's incomplete. Its scarred, covered in hate and regret. It pains you to see it, doesn't it? So tell me, nena. Who needs to pay for this?" He lifted his hand to her cheek, with a smile that promised nothing good. "Who hurt you so bad, the thought of it brings you tears?" Vaas voice held concern with a hidden sadistic fury. He wiped away a tear, the woman didn't know was there till it was too late. 

Liz jerked her face away.  
Was he messing with her head? Could she tell him this? She had never talked with anyone about this. Her brothers knew it was a touchy subject as well and never brought it up again. Granting her wish of acting as if it never happened, by just covering it 24/7.   
He was gonna hear she had been a captive, but late consequences would be off the table if she told him everything. It would protect her. It would protect her brothers.   
Taking two deep breaths Lisa looked Vaas directly in his eyes. 

"It seems like you don’t remember, Vaas, but we know each other for a long while. We met about 2 years ago. It was the day, you captured me and my friends."


	9. Of Ink and Freedom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember when is said i don’t want to retell something in character cause it gets too hard to read? Well i gave it another shot and this time is seemed right to do so. :)  
> I hope whoever reads this enjoys.

"It seems like you don’t remember, Vaas, but we know each other for a long while. We met about 2 years ago. It was the day, you captured me and my friends."

She received a little nod that seemed like a confirmation, for a theory in his head. So he did know or at least he guessed it.  
“The fact that you don’t remember me, explains why me and my brothers were never as actively searched for, as someone like Jason. Ok on the other hand, we didn’t go out and messed with you afterwards.. We just laid low and at some point, became part of the community.”  
Vaas narrowed his eyes. “We? So there are more runaways, than just you and you brother, running around on my island without me knowing?” This did not sound good.  
“No. Just me and my TWO older brothers." she held up her fingers while saying two.  
"Like i said, no names. It is just the 3 of us. I don’t know anyone else, promise. I did have the theory that, maybe you guys never looked for us, because you caught the rest of the breakout all in one pile. After all we were like.. 18? people running for their lives.”  
“I do remember that. That big one with 15. Fucking. 15. Runaway. Captives.” It was more a growl than a sentence. “Do you even know how FUCKING HARD that was to explain?! We had to shoot 4 of those fuckers! Do you have any idea HOW MUCH money i lost on this?!”  
It hurt how he talked about her friends like products, objects.  
"how the FUCK did you all get out?" 

“Hey! That was your fault!"  
Liz slapped her hand on her mouth. So much for thinking before talking to this man. 

If looks could kill, she would be disintegrated right now.  
“What do you mean by MY fault?”  
The young woman just picked up her water bottle and mumbled a “I didn’t say anything.” before drinking and looking away sheepishly.  
“Nena, you are going to tell me. Right. Fucking. Now!” Vaas had changed his sitting position from just next to her facing the ocean, to next to her but facing her cross legged. He looked ready to explode again.  
“Ok, but please don't freak out.. I am honest. I have NO idea how we were able to actually pull this off.” She sighed, got an unopened coconut and slashed it open with her machete. “You better pour yourself another glass of that wine. You are in for quite a story.”

“To begin with, if you forgot, we were a party / dive trip. Or in other words the guys that brought us here on the ship were your guys from the beginning and none of us put up a fight, cause no one wanted to die. That's why we were so many at once.” He did seem to remember that.  
"Me, and my brothers were all in different cages. My oldest brother.. Let's call him.. Carl. Just got his cage locked, when YOU-” she pointed at Vaas.  
“-suddenly yelled at the guy who was locking the cage. Causing that poor dude to nearly piss himself and drop the key. I can't remember what it was about. But it startled the Key-guy so much he forgot to pick up his key after dropping it and followed you somewhere.”  
Vaas had jumped up and punched the palm tree. “You’ve got to be FUCKING KIDDING ME!”  
Liz kept her open hand in front of her. “Deep breaths, relax. It gets, unfortunately, even better.”  
The Pirate Lord just kept standing, breathing heavy and staring at the palm tree, trying to calm down. He gave her a hand motion to continue. 

“So from now on, keep in mind, everything i tell you happens in a timespan of about 24 to 27 hours. So, Carl picked up the key in a fitting moment and hid it in his hands. Once things got a bit more quiet we all shared a look and it was decided. How the FUCK we all immediately understood what was gonna happen? I don’t know! Was it super cool? ABSOLUTELY!”  
She had to chuckle thinking of it.  
“Anyway. Carl started to cut his hands free with the key. After that he did the same with everyone in the cage. They all kept acting as if they were still bound, obviously. He unlocked his cage. But let the lock still look closed. Yes you can do that with padlocks, especially with the shitty old ones you used back then. No offense.”  
Vaas had calmed down a bit and sat down again, lighting another cigar. He was not happy with the retelling of a chain reaction caused by him, but he listened interested anyway. Probably to remember some things he needed to change about how captives were held. 

“After all that Carl waited for the perfect moment to throw the key over to my other older brother let’s call him.. Man i'm bad with random names.. Uhh. Let's just call him Steve. So Steve obviously couldn't catch the key with his hands tied behind his back. So the key made a noise… And a Guard looked over. That's when I went ahead and just started panic-crying, cause I couldn't handle the stress of us getting caught in that moment.”  
This got a little laugh and a fake “aaaw~” from the man.  
Liz had to smile a bit. It was cruel, but kinda cute.  
“Yeah, yeah shush, i am telling the story. So, my crying distracted the guard, yelling at me to shut up, being the 'gentlemans' your guys all are. Steve used THAT window to fumble with his bound hands and get the key.  
Once we were in the clear again Steve did the same Carl did. You could imagine our joy when the key worked on that lock as well. Then it was my turn. And i kid you not. If i would not have been there and witnessed it, i wouldn't believe it!” She started giving her words more gesture at this point to describe things better. 

“Steve managed to pull of a throw with that key. It went through the bars and landed, without a single sound, in one of the other girls boobs. It took everything from me, Carl, Steve and all our friends not to cheer, cause damn that was awesome!”  
She had played the entire scene with a little stick as the Key.  
Even Vaas couldn’t hold back a laughter. This was just ridiculous at this point. How did none of his man catch that? 

“Anyway back to the breakout. After 'crying' in the chest of that girl, for like a minute, I got the key and did the same the others did. So now we had 3 cages with about a total of..”  
She silently recounted all her friends names and added the rest of the group she could remember. “18 people ready to run. 15 if you take away Me and my Brothers. It was evening but we wanted to wait for night to fall cause you know. It's easier to hide in the dark. But then… Something happened.” 

Vaas gave a knowing nod.  
“We suddenly heard gunshots and yelling. Our guards where all of a sudden, well on guard and actually paid attention to their surroundings. Shocker, I know. They started to shout something too and some radio gave some info or something.” 

“There was an attack. Some Rakyat bastard thought they could just walk into my place, kill my men and steal my Product! Or in other words: You and your friends. We gunned them down pretty fast.” That word annoyed her. Product. He was better stopping using it to describe her and her friends. 

“Oh that explains it. Anyway they started walking away from us, guns up. Aaand that's when we silently opened our doors and bailed in the opposite direction. It didn't take long to hear the guns, dogs and men behind us, but we kept running. Me, Carl and Steve started to change direction and split from the large group. You know? The more we split up, the more you guys have to split up and heighten our chances.” 

“Well, that does explain some things. I always thought those Rakyat fuckers somehow got you all out. At least that shit gave me a good reason to get some more fucking men. The rest of your little little group didn't split up.. and no one noticed you missing. You friends also never said anything about someone missing. Fuck me, that was stupid from us!” The cigar butt was flung into the sand. Her friends never called them out for managing to flee? Something in her felt horrible. Did her friends count on her and her brothers to free them? 

So now Vaas knew of their grand escape.  
It was always fun to remember how it was started by this guy being his Asshole self.  
Liz had a little smile on her face, but it faded. She looked into her lap.  
“After that, my memory is pretty haze.  
I don't know how long we ran but we got through a river and at one point ran into a group of people that took us with them. After then its black. I guess the adrenaline dropped and with the exhaustion of the worst 48 hours of my life, without any sleep on top of that, i blacked out.” 

This was the point where it got heavy. One would think, the part about losing the rest of her friends was the hardest part, but no. They all died in her head. Liz couldn't take the thought of them as slaves. So they just all died and she had gotten over their deaths by now.  
The following, she still hadn’t gotten over with. She had to tell it though. Liz couldn't risk getting her Family in danger for telling about their breakout.  
The Pirate Lord just looked at her expectantly. They had a deal after all. 

“.. My brothers told me that..” She stopped. Liz gripped her arm at the bandage. The squeezing turned into clawing, as she stared at it. Her breathing got heavier. Time felt like it froze.  
Suddenly, there were 2 arms. One right arm, sneaking around her waist to loosen her clawing right hand and a Left arm coming from behind her also holding it.  
Liz didn’t know when Vaas had decided to ditch his place on the blanket to sit semi behind/left of her in the sand. After she had let go, Vaas's right hand took the bandage of. With both hands, he held her arm and let his thumbs gently slide over the inked and scarred skin.  
“Keep talking.”  
It was such a soft tone.  
It felt soothing, safe even. 

“My brothers told me, that when we met the people in the forest, the Rakyat, one of them touched my shoulder. I guess to comfort me, but in my panic and adrenaline, i hit him with my elbow. First in the dick and then in the face. Knocking him out cold.”  
She was interrupted. “You do have a mean elbow.” She could feel the smile in his words.  
“Yeah.. sorry about that.. but also don't sorry. You attacked first. Anyway. Knocking the guy out. Apparently they were pretty impressed by that. When we came to that place… i think it’s called Saganaki? Aganaki?”  
“Amanaki.”  
“Yeah.. Amanaki. I had already passed out and one of my brothers was carrying me. They gave us all a place to sleep. All seperate rooms.”  
Liz’s entire body began to shiver. The right arm from the Pirate lord closed a bit more in, without letting go of her arm. She hated to admit it, but having someone so close by, it helped a bit. 

“Once i came back to consciousness… I was not alone. There was this guy.. and when i looked at what he did.” She couldn't keep the sobbs in anymore.  
“This is fucking permanent, Vaas.. This guy just started talking about some Animals, something about a warriors way, fighting, about killing. All while hammering away as if it was normal! How messed up is that?! I was out cold and they just decided it. ‘Hey let’s put a FUCKING PERMANENT mark on that arm, that has an important meaning to our culture, that this person is no part of WITHOUT ASKING THEM.’  
So i pulled my arm away, but he just held it down, saying something about how i was gonna mess it up and if the sedative for my arm was running out?! I yelled at him to stop, kicked him in the gut and bolted. Outside I ran directly into my brothers. When that man came after me.. guess what?  
Instead of apologizing for permanently violating my body, he yelled at us 3 for not telling him i was a woman. That i should not receive this ‘honor’. DUDE! You could have just waited for me to wake up and ask!! He didn't even ask for my name before starting this shit!  
I mean i get it. I was wearing a pretty loose hoodie and my hair was even shorter back then. So at a first look, many people thought i was a guy, but FUCK! WHY SHOULD IT MATTER IN THAT SITUATION?! I was unconscious and never gave my FUCKING CONSENT for a FLIPPING PERMANENT TATTOO!  
And when my brothers told this guy to fuck off and that we were leaving, he was all like ‘but you two are supposed to receive it too. You will help us in the war.’ FUCK NO, WE WEREN’T! We just escaped a nightmare! All we wanted was a break and then look if we can either get off this place, or somehow get going here!” 

There was a 2 minute break in which Liz was just crying. It all hurt. She could even still hear the voice of this man. Every morning when she woke up, she was scared if she would find someone next to her. Vaas just kept on silently, carefully massage the Tatau. You could see that patch of skin didn’t see the light often. It was as white as snow and wrinkled from the salt water of the wet bandage. 

“We left that place shortly after. None of us wanted to have anything to do with this war. If they say fight for us or leave, well guess what? We leave. Then we stumbled upon Bad Town. Once we found out that the people there were shunned by the Rakyat and someone from there found out we were too, they helped set us up. I didn’t stay there in the end, but my brothers did.”  
She let out a long sigh. 

“You know what the funniest part about all this is? Me and my Brothers, were 3 of 4 people from that trip, that said: ‘This is stupid. Let’s take an official travel provider. This entire thing just stinks of scam!’ But no, we gave in after everyone else was whining, that they wanna go so bad.”  
That actually got a good laugh out of Vaas. “Guess it is fitting who is still here, no?”  
“.. I guess it is.” 

After 3 more minutes of massaging the scars, Vaas let go of her arm. His arms still remained around her though and that was a bit uncomfortable. He did seem to notice something interesting, keeping him there.  
“..What?” Liz wiped away her last few tears with her free right hand.  
“Your neck still has a bruise.” Vaas rather gently tapped the point with his left hand.  
“Ouw! Yeah… I would guess that's from that syringe..” She kind of pulled away from him, but he held her in place. Liz got really nervous, really fast. A very ominous dark purr sounded behind her.  
“It is… Let's make it a bit bigger, shall we? It will be easier to see who you belong too. It looks like a very good spot for a mark too.” Liz froze. What the fuck was he talking about?!  
The coldest of shivers went down her spine, as she felt first, a small lick and then a Kiss on the bruise. She could feel the lips part. 

SLAP!!

Vaas was laying in the sand, holding his left cheek.  
Liz had pushed is head away with her right palm and full power backhanded him with her left. Basically bitch slapping him and getting up in the process.  
After seemingly processing this, Vaas sat back up. With a face ready to kill, taking a deep breath to start yelling- he didn’t get the chance to do so.

“WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST FUCKING TALK ABOUT?! WERE YOU EVEN FUCKING LISTENING?? WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?! I JUST TALKED ABOUT HOW IMPORTANT CONSENT IS! I OPENED UP TO YOU ABOUT A EMOTIONALLY AND PHYSICAL SCARRING CASE OF NONCONSENT AND YOU JUST GO AHEAD AND THROW IT OUT OF THE FUCKING WINDOW! YOU ARE JUST LIKE HIM! YOU DON'T GIVE A FLYING FUCK ABOUT MY CONSENT!  
YOU ARE NOT A GOD VAAS! YOU CAN’T JUST DECIDE OVER SOMEONE LIKE THEY ARE AN OBJECT! I AM NOT AN OBJECT! I WON'T LET YOU PUSH ME AROUND LIKE THAT!!  
I KNOW I CAN’T FUCKING CHANGE YOU OR WHAT YOU DO, BUT GET IT IN YOUR FUCKING HEAD VAAS. I. AM. NOT. SOME. OBJECT. OR SLAVE. OR PRODUCT. OR WHATEVER YOU MAY FUCKING CALL IT! YOU ARE A PERSON AND WANT TO BE TREATED AS ONE! AND GUESS WHAT? I AM A FUCKING PERSON TOO. SO STOP FUCKING TREATING ME LIKE YOU FUCKING OWN ME!  
I DID NOT SURVIVE THIS HELL FOR 2 YEARS TO LET YOU TREAT ME LIKE THAT! NOW GET YOU FUCKING SHIT TOGETHER VAAS! FOR FUCKS SAKE!” 

Complete silence. Vaas was completely stunned during that entire explosion.  
They had switched positions from his explosion prior. He was on the ground, while she towered over him, menacing. 

Oh how the tables had turned.  
Instead of getting up an yelling, he was just laying there, leaning on one elbow, wide eyed, holding his cheek. All while this tiny woman in front of him exploded like a volcano.  
Only when she stopped her barade, for now, did she notice something was off about him.  
Next to the big red mark, that he partially covered with his hand, was a full red blush. 

Vaas Montenegro was fucking, blushing at her.


	10. It hurts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the point i was afraid of.  
> I reaaally hope the Vaas POV did not turn too OOC!  
> Also good news! Im out of self quaranteen. (still gonna do social distancing! No worries.)  
> Bad news! I am out of self quaranteen, so i have to go back to work and can't write like 9 hours a day... So from now chapters will take longer. Sorry!

What was that woman doing to him?  
Vaas was stunned,his cheek burned.  
Both his cheeks actually for some reason and fuck!  
Was he blushing?  
Was he fucking SHAKING?  
How was this soft voice able to be so booming and full of power?  
It was breathtaking, impressing, yes even imposing.  
"Nen-" 

"DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE CALL ME THAT AGAIN! I NEVER AGREED TO ANY OF THIS! I AM NOT YOU FUCKING GIRLFRIEND AND THIS IS NOT A FUCKING DATE!! JUST! ..Just!" Her voice shifted to a less angry but way, waay to cold tone for his liking.  
"I don't want to hear anything from you, unless it's a true and honest apologie."  
No wait, there was the anger again.  
"TO WHICH YOU ARE APPARENTLY NOT ABLE TO! YOU JUST RUN AROUND ALL DAY, DOING WHATEVER YOU WANT, TO WHOEVER YOU WANT, WITHOUT EVER FEELING BAD! DU VERKACKTES ARSCHLOCH! (You fucking asshole!) JUST CAUSE YOU FUCKING OWN THE PLACE DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN TREAT PEOPLE LIKE SHIT! WHAT IS WRONG WITH EVERYONE ON THIS FUCKING ISLAND?! JUST… AAAARRGH!"  
She turned around and stormed off to the ocean, yelling curses in a different language, he didn’t understand. 

Vaas just stared in amazement.  
What was that?  
What had just happened?  
Did she just-?  
He should get up and put her in her place.  
That woman just had the nerve to slap and yell at HIM!  
At Him!  
How fucking dare she!  
But he couldn't move.  
He couldn’t get up and beat her black and blue and back in line.  
Back in her Place.

SHE already did that.  
This woman just bitch slapped HIM and put HIM back in HIS place.  
He could not shake the feeling of being impressed, by that.  
And even if. He didn’t wanted to put her in her place.  
He didn’t wanted to hurt that woman.  
He couldn’t.  
Fuck.  
What was wrong with him? 

He felt horrible. Everything hurt. Not just his face.  
His arms, his legs, his head, his torso, his CHEST.  
It burned.  
It hurt.

Vaas let his upper body fall back into the sand.  
He stared into the sky, as his mind raced itself.

Ever since one of his men, that he had sent to find her, told him about the other guy in the bar. It felt like being ripped apart from the inside.  
For a moment he wanted to go to Bad Town, instead of the beach, find that guy and rip him apart piece by piece.  
Like that this fuck could feel, what he was feeling.  
After that, bring the severed head to this bitch and show her what happened to her "Dearest Dick".  
Let both suffer and take what was his.  
But he couldn't.  
He wanted, he needed to hear it from her.  
It had to be a FUCKING LIE.  
She had to tell him it was a lie, she just had to.  
Because Vaas didn't knew what to do if it wasn't.  
It hurt too much. 

Before Vaas left the compound, he had a little 10 minute "meeting" with his new best friend Marc in one of the shacks, to blow off some steam.  
Marc screamed and begged, asking him why.  
And fuck, it was a good question.  
Why?  
Why would she do this to him?  
The day before their big day!  
What had he done wrong?  
Was he not good enough?  
Why would she choose to fuck someone else?  
He had everything!  
Everything he didn’t have, he could get!  
He could provide whatever she would need!  
So why be with someone else?  
WHY THE FUCK, LAY IN SOMEONE ELSE'S ARMS?!  
It hurt so bad.

Walking to the beach, he had calmed down.  
Still in the back of his head a voice told it to him over and over and over again.  
She was fucking someone else. She was a cheating bitch.  
First the Ink, now this.  
The image of his perfect angel crumbled more and more and he hated it.  
At the beach, he could see the prepared fireplace, the pot and pan, shoes and.. Pants?  
That had spiked his interest again.  
Did she wear something nice for him?  
There was some sort of a swimming crop top with shorts in the backpack, so what did she wear?  
Watching her swim, was gorges.  
Maybe a bit disappointing hence the clothes, but still.  
Making her jump was adorable.  
But the look and tone of her voice, killing that crab.  
She had a lot of fun without him already, hu?  
Those shorts definitely weren't hers.  
It spiked the thought again.  
Fun without him. Fun with someone else.  
It hurt so, so bad. 

Back when he was yelling at her, he felt the same.  
Everything had hurt.  
For just a split second, Vaas had aimed his fist at her face, instead of next to it and it broke him inside.  
Even the merest thought of him hurting that woman shattered his usual confidence.  
Sure one or two 'love bruises' would look great on her. Like at her arms or legs, if he held her to tight, bite marks, god those would be hot.  
Marking her as his.  
Those were signs of love.  
But directly hitting her?  
In the face? No.  
Was the brother thing a lie?  
He did not give a fuck back then.  
He was desperate enough to believe anything.  
All he wanted was some sort of reaction.  
Something, anything so he would stop feeling, like he drank some sort of acid and was being eaten from the inside.

Vaas couldn’t even look into these diamonds after that.  
He couldn’t take it.  
He had seen the anger in her eyes, the fear.  
The disgust and disappointment pointed at him.  
That didn't matter to him from anyone.  
Why did it matter from her?  
He was in the wrong and he had to face it.  
But instead, he just hid his face like a child.  
Still, she had given him comfort.  
It had felt so good.  
But once she told him to get up, it became clear that comfort was not out of compassion.  
It was out of fear, of what he could do.  
She had the right to be terrified.  
It hurt so god damn much.

Hearing form her escape, was thrilling.  
Sure it pissed him off, how it was his fault and how seemingly easy it went down. Still it was impressive. It also meant that technically, she was already his. Or at least already was his once. After all he had agreed to a deal.  
She was free now and her 'Brothers' as well.  
By now he began being suspicious about that again. Having 3 sibling captives usually was one of his favorite passport bingos.  
He would remember something like that.  
And he did not remember any of them.

Admittedly, he shouldn’t have forced her into telling him about the Tatau.  
That was unnecessary. She made it clear, she wasn't with his sister.  
But the second he brought it up, when she first started shivering and clutching it, he couldn’t any different.  
He had to find out.  
It was as if he was on autopilot.  
He needed to give her comfort.  
It was what he was supposed to do!  
Fuck!  
Usually crying and weeping women just annoyed the shit out of him.  
But this time it was important.  
It hurt him, to hear her cry, to feel her body shaken by sobbs.  
It hurt so fucking much.

When he saw that bruise, he knew it was from the syringe, but that fucking little voice in his head said something different.  
What if it was from someone else?  
What if there was a man?  
What if there was a man, who she would lean into, when he held her.  
Not freeze and tense up, like she was gonna die, if she moved.  
A man she would got to, if she was scared.  
Not run from.  
A man she would go to see at her hearts desire.  
Not out of fear for consequences.  
A man she would trust blindly and feel safe with.  
Not questioning his every, single move.  
A man she could love.  
Was there a man?  
He didn’t know.  
The only thing he did know, was he was not it.  
Not yet.  
Until he could be that man, every other one was a threat.  
It made him furious inside.  
He had to make sure they all knew, who she belonged to!  
Because only the thought of her in someone else's arms hurt!  
It hurt so much, as if he was going to die!

What was going on?!  
He was angry, but not at her.  
HE messed up.  
FUCK.  
Vaas covered his eyes with his right arm.  
He had to think.  
How the FUCK was he getting out of this mess?  
He could just take her, bring her to Hoyt, buy her from him and keep her to himself.  
If he heard right, Buck did that every now and then.  
But that wouldn't work.  
He wouldn’t get what he wanted.  
He wouldn’t be ‘that’ man for her.  
He would own her body, but her mind would never be truly his.  
Even if he would break her, he would never get that feeling he seeked.  
She would hate him.  
The exact opposite of what he wanted.  
All his usual tactics won't work.  
What was happening to him?

He had been with so many women is his life. Fucked each and every one of them. All he ever needed was either his looks, his position of power or money.  
But all of those women were unimportant. They meant nothing. Those were flings, one night stands. Nothing but bodies fulfilling a physical need.  
It was embarrassing, but Vaas Montenegro had to accept, he had no idea how having a serious relationship was done. How did you make a woman your “Girlfriend”?  
The only “relationship” he knew of, was Hoyt and his “Girlfriends”, but those were just glorified sexslaves, that he dressed up pretty.  
Fuck.  
How the fuck did you do this?

Vaas had to get a grip on himself.  
It couldn’t be that hard!  
This woman was driving him into insanity!  
He could feel it happening.  
He would try his ways over and over and over again, hoping he could get her where he wants.  
Just to fail again and again and again.  
Maybe that was his problem?  
Maybe he didn’t need to get a grip on himself.  
Maybe she… no.  
This was stupid. The last time he let a woman had some form of control over his actions, was back with the Rakyat. Back with his sister.  
This was not going to work.  
He was the master of this island.  
He was the top of the fucking food chain. 

FUCK.  
Was he really this desperate?

Vaas had no idea, how long he had been laying there when he sat back up.  
From the shadow’s location, it looked as if the sun had moved quite a bit actually.  
While getting up to a stand, he spotted his Ne- he spotted Lisa on a the furthest rock, out in the water.  
A long and heavy sigh left him.  
Great, now he had to apologize.  
How was he gonna do that? 

10 Minutes later, Vaas made his way over to his adored woman, that he could not yet call his own.  
He was armed with 2 coconuts. A quick look at the fireplace had told him, her freshwater was empty. She was sitting in the sun, she needed to stay hydrated!  
Jumping from rock to rock, he got pretty close.  
The one she sat on, unfortunately, was too far to jump.  
She must have swam over there.  
A small head movement told him, she had noticed him. Well, he wasn’t trying to hide from her anyway.  
Vaas watched her getting her bow ready. It had a weird arrow like contraption in it.  
She put something in the little cup at the end, aimed at a specific point further out and let it go.  
Her bow catapulted something it seems. A fishing line on a spool was mounted to her bow. It was connected to whatever she had sent out.  
He was wondering what that spool was for when he looked through her stuff.  
Aside from her initial shoulder look, Vaas got ignored.  
It annoyed him a little, but she did say, she wanted to hear nothing until it was a sincere apology.  
The cold shoulder hurt.  
He really had to do this. 

“I am sorry.”  
God that sounded half assed, even to him.  
Come on Vaas, you can do better.  
“I am sorry, for the way i treated you.”  
Better.. but she didn’t move an inch.  
Vaas sighed in defeat. This was happening.  
This woman was breaking him.  
“I am sorry, for talking and acting as if I own you. I can’t do that. You are too strong for that.. I.. also don’t want that. I just..”  
God, why was this so hard?  
Green Emeralds met blue diamonds.  
As logic acquired, the diamonds shattered the emeralds on impact.  
Vaas let his shoulders sink in defeat.  
“I am so sorry… I don’t know how to do any of this, Ne-..Lisa. I don’t know how to show you i am serious. I only know that it hurts and i.. i.. ARHG FUCK! Just tell me what the FUCK i should do?! JUST TELL ME AND I'LL FUCKING DO IT!” he held his arms open, crouching. His head was still higher up than her sitting form, but Vaas felt small. So unbelievably small.  
“Is that your apologie?”  
The pirate lord just let his head sink.  
Was he really not good enough? 

A silent sigh found its way into his ears.  
“..come here. It’s not the best apology, but from you.. It is honestly more than i expected. So it'll do.”  
Looking back up, he saw her scoot over.  
The feeling that flooded his system, kind of felt like getting high on one of Earnhardt's special mushrooms for the very first time.  
He was so happy!  
He did not fuck it up!  
Looking at the distance, Vaas would have to swim for like 2 strokes, to get to her. “Could you catch these real fast for me?” He held up the coconuts.  
Liz just gave a single laugh. “I had to battle a crab twice today, because of you. You are a big boy, Vaas. I am sure you can handle two coconuts.” This time, she had the shit eating grin.  
Well he could not argue with that.

Vaas clothes were completely wet. Everything up to his neck was dripping with saltwater. Good thing he left his cigars and radio at the beach.  
Liz was dry. She probably sat here for quite some time.  
Together they sat for a short while just staring at the ocean.  
While she was fishing, he poked 2 holes in each coconut, with his knife, for easy drinking.  
“Hu.. that’s way better than beheading them.” With a smile, that was to die for, she took it from him.  
Bow in her lap, drink in her hand she looked at him. 

“So.. I was thinking.”  
Somehow that made him nervous.  
“What? You laid there for 4 hours! I had some time to kill too, ok? Anyway.. This entire situation is fucked up. If you look at it from a normal person's perspective that is. So i decided to look at it from a different angle. From a more.. Rookish angle, so to speak. Before i tell you, what conclusion i came to, i just need to hear it from you. What exactly are you expecting from me? What is it you are trying to get out of this? I mean.. if you’re only thinking.. well.. you know.. the ‘thing’” She blushed and looked away. “then sorry, but that’s not ho-”  
“You really think i just want to fuck you? Nonononono..” He shook his head a bit while smiling. “I could just pay a whore, multiple even! No.. I..” Vaas laid his right hand on his chest. “You stole it.. and it hurts. It really does! I just.. this is so fucking stupid.”  
“No, no! Tell me! I won't tell anyone. Promise. Also.. no need for any shame. It’s ok. I mean.. after all. You are trying to tell Me how you feel about.. well..Me, so yeah.”  
It was weirdly calming and relieving to hear that from her.  
She also had a good point. If he was ever going to tell someone this, it would be her.  
So he actually had to loosen his own grip on himself?  
Could he be weak in front of this woman?  
Was this what she wanted?  
He didn’t wanted to look weak!  
Humans were just another sort of animal. Usually in every species the females want the strongest of them all and he was the fucking alpha of this Island!  
Fuck, he even knew some of those whores tried really hard to get into his favor. Some even had cat fights!  
So why didn’t his little leopard immediately jump to the chance of being with him?  
On the other hand he was the top of the food chain and she was a careful survivor.  
So maybe showing her weakness could make her less afraid?  
Maybe it was how she chose?  
Taking a few deep breaths Vaas began to speak. 

And speak he did.  
Just like back at the dinner.  
Once he finally got started, he couldn't stop.  
He told her nearly everything.  
About how he was confused.  
About his weird desire to know everything was ok, that started back when she saved him.  
About his dreams of her constantly running away.  
His great, but horrible night with those 2 whores. He did went a bit too much into detail with that one, but Liz shut him down really fast. 

“I don’t need THAT much info!” Her face was about as red as his top, as she covered her ears flustered. That was cute. Note to himself, talk about sex, to make her look cute.  
So he skipped that, to the point of the 2 not caring, except for his money. 

And that started the barrage of things Vaas did not know about himself for the longest time.  
He could not understand, how he was feeling this alone all of a sudden.  
Why he wanted to hold her so bad.  
Why the fuck he was not even thinking about fucking her! That was probably his biggest concern. He should be thinking about it. Quite a lot actually!  
He also made it clear, he still thought she was hot as fuck, just in a different way and that, given the chance, he would, of course, fuck her, till she screamed his name. Again, she started with a high red head out to the sea. God red was a great color for her. 

He told her, how he talked to the head in the sand about Dates.  
How he wanted to make the dinner perfekt, by watching how movies did it.  
That got him a “Aww.. that’s so fucked, but also kinda cute!”  
How seeing her in the Jungle, seeing how she was part of it, made her look so perfect.  
How she was made for living in it, in his eyes and how much that meant to him. 

At some point he got to everything from today.  
How vulnerable and weak he felt upon hearing from his men.  
How horrible he felt yelling at her.  
How he nearly hit her and it being one of the worst feelings he ever had.  
He! A man who counted torture as a hobby! What was wrong with him?!  
How he felt bad for pressuring her into telling him about the Tatau, but also why he did it.  
How much he wanted to know what hurt her so much, so he could help.  
How he would love to find the man who gave it to her and make him wish, Vaas would let him die.  
How it made no sense, but her yelling paralyzed him.  
How impressive it had been.  
And lastly How he had spent the last 4 hours slowly realizing he had no idea what exactly he wanted or how to get it.  
He only knew it involved her at his side for as long as possible. 

During his, a good hour and a half, speech-waterfall, Liz had caught 2 relatively big fish. She was currently taking out the organs and cleaned them.  
“.. that.. was a LOT more than i thought you would say.”  
Did he say to much? She said open up, but he did too much didn’t he?  
He looked to weak now to be a fitting mate, right?  
Fuck! He knew it.  
But her smile said something different.  
“Well.. now it is my turn i guess.” She put the fish next to her and turned more to him.  
This was it. 

“You are a horrible person.”  
Ok, ouch!?  
“But if you look at it from not a world wide, but a just Rook perspective. You are not AS horrible. You are still in the Top 5, but the gap is smaller and everybody here is an asshole anyway. The pros are: You can be pretty funny. You have probably the blackest humor i have ever seen.”  
There was a warm smile on her face. Welcoming, even.  
“Also you can be kinda, hella cute and don’t even try to deny it. Also.. 80% of my old friends were guys. 100% of my now friends are guys, so i know somewhere in your head there is this insecure guy questioning himself. I am telling you right now. THIS” She waved her hands up and down in front of him.  
“Is amazing. Like.. don't even think about physical insecurity stuff man, you're settled.” She blushed saying that.  
He couldn't help but smile from that.  
So the fair lady liked his body, hu?  
She should wait to see him naked.

He didn’t get much time to think though. His heart made a spike with the following. The blush still all over her cheeks, she broke eye contact.  
“you obviously care.. like a lot.. and that is super cute.. and i did say in the video i still have to cope with that and i still can't do that. And here you are talking again, about that i am pretty and how much you like me and.. you know. Stuff. I have got to figure that out… but for now.” She threw some water in her face and took a deep breath.  
“Like i said, i decided this before you told me all this. It is obvious you care a lot. I still kind of feel that it is some sort of a hero-complex because of what happened back then, but still. I am ready to give this date thing a shot.”  
Vaas could feel his entire posture fill up again.  
Yes! This was it! He got his dearest, his nena, his reina!  
“IF!” She pointed a finger right at him and looked him deep in the eyes. They were filled with determination.  
“If?” His eyes were half lidded. He would do anything at this point. This day had potential to be the greatest day since discovering the joy of drugs and torture. 

“If, you can accept me as a Person on a eye to eye Level, respect my boundaries, respekt my consent. Accept that i have my own life, with my own friends. Meaning i am not available 24/7. You won't turn this into a Hamilton 'You'll be back'! Cause this has too much of a potential to be one..and it might be a super catchy song but, the lyrics are terrifying .. also i know how men are.. I can’t control you. I don’t think anyone can tbh. But.. even if you accept me as a person, do me the favor and don’t objectify me in front of your guys. Neither if i am there, or not. Also don't brag about it, Ok? I am still trying to keep a low profile.” 

He shouldn’t have to think about it. Sure he could respekt those things, right? Should be easy!  
He didn't know what song she was talking about, but he could find that out. He was ready to agree to anything, to get her.  
His mind as who he was, on the other hand, wanted a back door. Just having it for the case of needing it. So instead of a simple 'Yes i will.' he came back to her with:  
“I’ll do my best. Mi Reina.” He made a little sitting bow.  
Looking back up, he leaned a bit in her direction. “May i, now, kiss the bride?”  
Silence.  
“Too soon?”  
“Too soon.”  
“you're mad at me for trying?”  
“Well, you did only ask. So no.” there was a small smile. “Also i am no bride. I sa-"  
“Not yet.”  
She put a finger on his mouth to shush him. It was so soft. God that felt great!  
"I said yes, to try dating. Nothing else.”  
She put her hand away again.  
Vaas couldn't help but bite the tip of his tongue while smiling.  
This was great. 

“Well.. i don’t know about you, but i will go and get some fish ready.” Liz picked up her fish, flung her bow on her shoulder and stood up.  
“Sure you can handle 2 fish, while swimming?” Vaas had a mocking tone in his voice.  
“Swimming? I don’t think so.” With the most mischievous grin, that nearly stopped his heart, she stepped into the water at her side of the rock, they were sitting on.  
The water went to her knee.  
With an open mouth he watched her walk on, what seemed a smaller rock, that was underwater, closer to the cliffside over to the next big rock, further away than the one he came from.  
“You.. could have told me that earlier!” Vaas was a bit stunned. He had not seen that, when he came over here.  
“Nah. I needed revenge for my crab.” With that she made her way back to the beach.  
That mischievous little bitch! She made him get all wet with all his clothes on purpose.  
But fuck. He loved it.  
He loved that woman. Of course he hadn't spoken those 3 words to her face. He did not need movies to tell him, that would be a bad idea. 

The Pirate Lord followed her back. It was slowly getting in the direction of evening.  
Walking towards the fireplace, Vaas felt all his pride flood back. His pride and his good mood. He was going to fucking party tonight!  
Drinks were on him, once they got back to his Fortress. He would sleep so well tonight, with his angel in his arms.  
Come to think of.. 

“Hey.. So, you said to not call you this again, cause your not my girlfriend, but theoretically, now i can! Right, Nena?” He was back to his smug self.  
“Theoretically, i did not say that i am your girlfriend. I said i was gonna give 'this’ a shot and 'this' is the whole getting to know one another and dating-thing. Remember? That thing that comes after meeting and before a relationship?”  
Wait a minute.  
"What..?"  
Instead of explaining, she just continued on.  
"We both learned a lot about each other today and honestly, you were very forthcoming over there. I did not expect you to accept everything like that. So.. If it makes you happy. Yes, you can call me that."  
She smiled at him. 

The fish was propped up on sticks like someone nailed to a cross and slowly cooked over the cracking fire. Kind of reminded him of an idea he once had, if he ever got a captive priest he could mess with.  
".. What's wrong?" it was a very soft tone of voice.  
Vaas had been sitting quite for quite some time again.  
He just didn't like it. You could say, he was a bit disappointed. When she said yes to giving him a chance, he was so sure of himself and just wanted to take her home with him.  
But that's not how it worked, ain't it?  
He did not manage to make her his today.  
She would probably not come home with him.  
He would be alone again and sleep probably a torture of her running away from him. 

"I am just back where i started."  
"No you're not. I came here, thinking this would all end today. In either me dying or worse OR in you realizing i am not, what you think i am." He watched her stare into the flames.  
"Instead, you surprised me by actually going the way, i was sure was under a 1% possibility. Being serious about this all. And look. I am still here. You made it clear, you won't hurt me. So i don't have a reason to run for my life. Also…" She had to giggle, it sounded heavenly.  
"..its kinda funny how the tables have turned. Turns out you can shut down the high and mighty Vaas Montenegro, leader of the pirates on the northern rook island, known for his shouting at people, by being faster with the shouting." His nena gave him that grin again. Yeah he had to admit he had not seen that coming.  
"I am giving myself at least 100 Badass points for that. Sorry to my dearest brother, but his top spot on our leaderboard is now mine."  
They both chuckled a bit. Who knew this little angel could be such a little, mischievous devil?  
It spiked his curiosity even more.  
What else could she be? 

They just sat next to each other by the fire. It was nothing there, but it felt like a wall between him and his Angel.  
He already regretted to agree to this. Right now he would pull her in his lap, hold and kiss her, like a queen deserved.  
But he had a deal. 

A deal that was somewhat comparable to his deal with Hoyt, in some weird way.  
The northern Island would be his kingdom as long as he provided and protected Hoyts product.  
She was giving him a CHANCE to make her see, why she should be with him and make her love him, as long as he respected her wishes that he had agreed on.  
Both deals had set boundaries, terms and rewards. No, not quite.  
That was the difference. This time it was just the chance of reward, but fuck it was a good one.  
He looked over to her.  
"So.. To get this right. You want me to ask before i do anything and everything?"  
Liz looked back at him with a thinking expression.  
"Something around those lines, yes. I was thinking about that too. You obviously don't have a clue about personal space. So-"  
"Hey! I am a fucking gentleman! I just-"  
"Sheesh. Relax. What i was going to say is, i would propose some sort of system. I just don't know it yet. I would usually just say, use common sense, but common sense is completely differently defined in this place! So.. I don't know Vaas. I am not sure how to do this without making you ask all the time. On the other hand that's going to get annoying and probably a mood killer for both of us in every situation. I mean i do wanna start trusting you in some ways down the line, you know."  
Liz was sitting cross-legged and held her chin in her left hand. He noticed the Tatau was covered in a bandage made from seaweed. That was sure to itch later, why did she do that?  
He would love to take it off again, but felt stupid for asking.  
She wanted a system for it? Whatever that would be, he would need some sort of backdoor for it. Can’t let that woman put him in chains.  
Why couldn't she just.. 

"How about this, Nena: You just do it. Everything you do, i get to do."  
It felt weird giving that much control away. God he wanted to feel that skin under his hands again!  
Why did she torture him, sitting in reach but yet so far?  
"That.. Is actually a really good idea!" She smiled at him. So it was settled. He was gonna follow her lead. That was sure to be interesting. Also with that loose of a description, he could easily abuse the system.  
But her smile changed. It got more nervous.  
Shit! Did she read his mind?  
"What's wrong, nena?"  
She wasn't going to back out if it now, was she? 

"I don't know how to say this. But.. This is nice?" Vaas felt the smile creep up his face, hearing the shy undertone in her voice.  
"you know? It's.. weird. I mean.. A few hours ago we were yelling at each other.. and now it’s so.. peaceful? Like.. how? Why am i so ok with this?”  
He had to admit, he had no idea. That didn’t stop the feeling of pride in his chest, however.

After the fish was done and they both had eaten, they just sat in silence by the fire.  
Something in the back of the Pirate Lords head tingled.  
His radio had, not once, given any sound from it.  
Either everything was going great and all his commands from the morning were done AND nothing came up over the day OR Carlos took care of everything.  
Vaas did tell his best man where he was going this morning and he had that cheeky smile on while, telling him good luck. 

Vaas was ripped from his thought by something touching the hand, he was leaning on.  
He only angled his eyes down to it and it made everything so much more worth it.  
It may only have been her ring finger and pinky, but they were still on the back of his hand. Looking back up to his not yet girlfriend, she was staring into the flames as if it was a contest. Glowing cheeks and a shy smile painting her face.  
He let his look linger on her face, while moving his hand a bit further to her. He had to make sure. If Vaas saw any sign of her running from him, he had to stop. As much as he hated it.  
But instead of running away, she just relaxed. His hand stopped once hers was completely on top of it.  
With a smile, Vaas closed his hand, intertwining their fingers. 

He may not be able to call her his yet.  
He may still feel alone tonight.  
It may still hurt.  
But betterment, was in sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for reading! Also i can only recomend to listen to the Song "You'll be back" from the Hamilton musical.  
> Honestly, I could somehow see Vaas sing that to his dearest.  
> Anyway I hope everyone who reads this has an awesome day!  
> Stay safe and healthy folks!


	11. She dates the Devil

What a Day. This situation was definitely not what the young woman expected, when she left her brothers house this morning.  
Liz was not going to lie, sitting at the slowly dying fire, basically holding hands, was kinda nice.  
He was obviously a bit frustrated, about just sitting next to her, so she decided to give him at least something.  
That something was holding hands. 

This morning she was so unsure and scared about this man, but he was somewhat ok and now they were officially dating.  
Ok he was horrible, cruel, narcissistic, remorseless and as sadistic as they come.  
He was not good, oh fuck no, but if you looked at the 'standard Rook guy' he was suddenly just a bit less fucked up. He had a job in the profession that about 40% of Rook had, Pirate and all. So she could look over the flaws that came with said job. 

Right? 

Ok, she might have lost it.  
But let's be completely honest?  
She was a small woman, living alone in the jungle, in a cave! She had certain wild animals, that had gotten a name from her, who she also referred to as her neighbors.  
By the way, she hadn't seen Dave the komodo dragon today. He usually came and ate what she left of the crabs and fish.  
Anyway!  
Yes, she was a bit insane as well. So what gives?  
She talks to animals and plants, he talks to heads of people he buried to the neck.  
They both had some screws loose.  
In fact, everyone on this island was crazy. 

Listening to the voice of Rooks self proclaimed king, shivering with insecurity, uncertainty and hurt, had been quite an eye opening experience.  
This guy was capable of human emotion. Who would have thought?  
It also made her blush to think of all the descriptions of dreams. When had a guy ever told her, his dreams were composed of her and only her to the point of it being torture? It was very concerning, but also weirdly flattering in a way.  
Listening to this hard and gruesome man, going all silent and soft, while explaining, how much he just wanted to hold her and care for her. It was stunning and kind of made her smile.  
God she had to figure out what was going on. 

When the sun started to set, Liz slowly freed her hand and begann holstering her machete.  
"As nice as this is, i think i should get going. I don't want to walk back to Bad Town in the dark."  
Vaas seemed a bit sad, but nodded. "Makes sense. So you're going back to…" She could see how his body grow a bit more tense.  
Oh no. We was not seriously still thinking this shit, right?  
"My brothers, yes. Who are probably starting to lose their calm, to be honest." she picked up her pants and boots.  
".. Could you.. Just stay where you are for a second. I gotta change. No peeking!"  
"You're no fun. No wine, no kiss, no touching and now i can't even watch you change? You just love being cruel to me, nena." She could practically hear that smirk on his face.  
Well he certainly seemed to be in a better state than the rest of the day.  
Liz kept a close eye on him while getting her long pants back on. Surprisingly, with no peeking.  
Putting her knife back in its place felt great.  
Finally she was geared up again. 

Once Vaas had gotten up as well, Liz started packing her things. She stored the pot and pan back in the chest and hid it under some leafs. The fire was covered with sand to put it out.  
The blanket was folded and put in her backpack.  
"Thanks, again, for giving my stuff back."  
Slowly she packed everything in her backpack. She did take the multitool and steak knife out of her brothers stachel, before putting that away.  
“I guess i should give these back as well. Thanks for letting me borrow those.”  
She held knife and multitool with the handles pointing to Vaas.  
He just smiled and gently pushed her hand back.  
“Keep them. Just promise to think of me, when you stab someone with that knife.”  
Ok. Not gonna happen, but she wouldn't say no to freebies.  
“If you say so.” She shrugged and bagged the two items. 

When everything was ready, Liz stretched with a long sigh while both started to walk back to the northern coastal street.  
Vaas had taken her hand.  
She did do it first so she was ok with it.  
It was kind of adorable how he glowed with pride and joy, the moment he realized, Liz was not pulling her hand away.

“Aw man, i can't wait to get back and jump under the shower. There is salt and sand EVERYWHERE!”  
"Everywhere, hm?" The underlying tone and those smug smiling eyes forced a small blush from her.  
Looking forward his smile faded a tad. "So, you're gonna shower there too…"  
Liz really didn't like how he was talking so concerned. Couldn't he just believe her, it was her brothers place?  
"Well, yeah. The shower at my place is composed of a waterfall close to my home. If i try going there tonight.. Well i don't like showering in the dark, when there could be animals around that wanna eat me. Maybe on a full moon. But today, I will prefer the one where i don't have to be scared for my safety and can also prepare for 20 minutes prior to get some good hot water over me, followed by crashing on that couch in comfy clothes." she could barely wait.  
"You know, mine has space for two and i gotta get that shit of me as well~."  
The smug tone and side-eye contact he held, caused a serious and uncomfortable blush on Liz. She left go of his hand, holding them up before her. 

"wow, wow, wow. I've got to say something. You do realize that you are talking about some pretty intimate stuff right? And like what? 2 hours after i said yes to date stuff? I-i can't tell if you are serious or not right now. Like.. Wow. Slow down there for like a minute."  
Her flustered confusion, was met with an equally confused, but also annoyed and hurt look.  
"Of course i am fucking serious."  
“Didn’t we just agree, that kissing is too soon? How is this any better? That’s even further down the line! Like.. what the heck?”  
Vaas had completely turned towards her, an ominous aura surrounding him. It was practically visible by now.  
“Well it’s definitely better than having you in some other guys FUCKING PLACE, DRIPPING WITH WATER, JUST SO THAT THEY CAN JOI-”  
“STOP!”  
Liz had 3 fingers on his lips, her thumb and pinky by his chin, to shush him, while his eyes glared daggers. “Just stop.. please.” Her voice faded to a whisper. She was flooded with disgust, anger, but most importantly: shame. Wrongful shame, but shame nonetheless. He was seriously believing she would do something like that?  
Very carefully, Liz lowered her hand and eyes. Right now, she could not take the angry look on his face. Liz felt bad. He had voiced his concern multiple times and she just kept shrugging it off. Vaas had agreed to all her demands to make her comfortable with all of this and what did she do?  
It wasn’t fair to him. 

”I.. I am sorry.” Letting out a sigh, she continued.  
“I shouldn’t have talked so much about my brothers.. I get it. You have every right to not believe me. It makes sense for you to trust the word of your guys more than mine. It really does.” Her body was shaking a little bit from the turmoil in herself. Liz was many things, but not a fucking cheater. She took another deep breath. “All I can ask from you is the trust, that i won’t do stuff like this. I never have and I never want to. But that is not how these things work… It may hurt, that you think of me that way, but trust is something to be earned.” She started hugging herself a bit.  
“I can’t just only think about my perspektive in all of this. If this is supposed to work, we both need to be comfortable with things. I did not think about your side of things and i am sorry for that. You are not comfortable with me staying at my brothers place. Which makes sense with the things that you heard.. But I am not comfortable with, honestly, going even near your place or the other thing, you.. proposed. I am sorry. It’s just.. a very scary thing for me and just..” she paused. “Anyway. That aside.. we need a compromise.” For a short moment, Liz winced as a Hand found its place at her cheek.  
“If it helps you sleep tonight, I will just tell them, that i am ok and then go to my own pla-” Her face was lifted upwards.  
Close.  
Vaas was very, very close to her face. Mere centimeters parting their noses.  
Liz couldn't help but feel her eyes getting trapped by his. 

“So you're telling me, you are not going to take care of yourself, because of this? Because of me?” His voice and tone were serious, but in a suspicious way.  
“Uhm.”  
“You said, you won’t go to to your waterfall, you won't come with me and now you say you won't stay there. You are telling me, that you will sleep in sand and salt because of me, nena?"  
Fuck. She just realized what he was getting at.  
"U-uhm I-" The thumb of the hand, holding her face, shushed her.  
"Ah. Ah. Ah~ Not so fucking fast, nena. I am not done talking. You want a comprise, no? Fine. I will trust you. You can stay there and i will be.. Ok with it..But i want something in return for that trust."  
Oh oh. That wasn't exactly going where she wanted it to go. He did have a point though. She was not going to get clean before sleep and it would indeed have sucked. Also, Vaas had made it clear how much he wanted to take care of her and like this she was forcing the opposite.  
Now she felt even more bad.  
Great. 

So he was going to give her the trust to stay at her brothers place for tonight without doing shit with them, in trade for something? That wasn't exactly how trust worked, but it'll do.  
The thumb left her lips. An invitation to speak.  
"I-i didn't mean to make it look like that." She needed to get that out of the way. "Also.. That's not exactly how trust works, BUT you did agree to all my terms for this, so i guess i could agree to some of yours." Liz was a tad nervous. It did seem fair. Even though he wanted something from her already.  
Vaas just smiled. "That's good. That's very good, Nena. Let's keep it fair. I just want 3 little things." why did she feel like those weren't gonna be little.  
The second hand of the pirate lord took one of her hands and held it softly.

"Number one: Promise me, right here, right now, that there is no one else, but me. I will rip apart, whoever fucking touches you from now on. Yes?"  
That sounded ominous. Also the amount of sadistic glimmer in his eyes was scary.  
Vaas did tell her how he felt hearing from his men about what they saw.  
It really hurt, that he was thinking she would do something like this, but yes. He had reasons. Liz also hated cheaters from depths of her heart. She never understood it and she never wanted to. So that answer was easy.  
"Yes. I Promise. Again. I didn't do anything like that and i don't plan on doing anything like that. Believe me, I have zero tolerance for cheaters myself. Just please don't act on rumors. I don't want to see my friends and family die, because you freak out about a hug, ok?" Liz nodded, their eyes lever losing contact.  
The joy blooming in the pirate lords eyes was a good but also, bad sign. "Perfect! Because IF shit ever happens, I. WILL. make you watch."  
There it was. Well she never was gonna let that happen in the first place, so all was fine, right? 

"Good. Good. Number two: You promise, you will make sure you are alone, before you do anything that involves you getting naked."  
That was oddly logical and harmless. Also a pretty fucking normal thing? It also was kind of included in the first point. Weird.  
"I already do that? I mean.. that is basically only when is shower. So yes, i promise."  
A very happy grin appeared in front of her.  
"I am the only one who gets to see that from now on, no? Or at least till and once, i get to see it. I really don’t like to share, Nena." It sounded a bit possessive, but Liz was gonna let it slide for now. She already turned him down a lot today, so at least let him have a small moment of this. Also yes. If they were gonna get from dating to more serious stuff, he would be right. But now she couldn't think of those things in the future. It was a bit too embarrassing to think about those things. 

"Number three: I want one free break of your rules. Just one."  
Liz swallowed. That sounded bad. Really, really, really bad. She could feel her entire posture change. "W.. What exactly do you mean?"  
Her feeling of safety slowly dwindled.  
This had way too much potential to turn everything in a horrible direction. This was too much. The first two she could accept, but this?  
"Just something little." It was a purr.  
"I.. I don't know. That goes pretty fa-"  
"It's nothing big. I Promise, nena. Wouldn't it be right to trust me with this, if i trust you with not fucking your brothers behind my back?"  
God fucking damn it. He was seriously guilt tripping her right now..  
Liz took a deep breath.  
"F.. Fine. But! Just because you get this one time, doesn't mean you can do it again, following our deal. u.. uhm and it.. won't be something, bad.. ok?" She had to put at least one barrier in there. Liz didn't know what she was running into and if Vaas decided to trick her into a 'you allowed it once, so i get to do it always' - situation, she wanted to stop that right now.  
The man just shrugged.  


"Fine by me. So everything is agreed on."  
Vaas broke their, way to close, faces apart.  
Doing so, he made a little stop while going back up. Liz could feel the hand on her cheek hold her in place, as a light kiss was set on her forehead.  
It was strong enough to be felt, but as soft, as if he was scared she'd shatter otherwise.  
After that Vaas let go, turned around and started walking back to the street. 

Liz was stunned.  
What just happened?  
That was his free break of rules?  
It was way less than what she expected.  
She had thought of multiple things.  
A bite mark, a hickey, a kiss. The things he wanted earlier. All would have made her very uncomfortable. Did he choose this, because of that?  
This little peck of the forehead, was kind of… Adorable?  
Somehow she felt her hand lift upwards, touching the spot as a light blush flooded her face.  
"You coming, Nena?"  
Looking up, the Jungle painted a picture.

With the slowly setting sun, it was brighter than usual. Instead of having to breach through the treetops, the light orange sunbeams were coming from the side.  
Illuminating the lush jungle floor.  
A few steps in front of her, stood Vaas. The side where the light hit him, looked back at her with a welcoming, hopeful smile and an outstretched hand.  
The other side, where the shadow was cast, was ominous and dangerous.  
She agreed to this.  
He proved, he could be nice.  
She knew he could be vulnerable.  
It was clear he didn’t wanted to hurt her, but also didn’t wanted to be hurt.  
She could do this.  
After short hesitation, she placed her hand in the welcoming one and started walking again.  
Liz was officially dating the Devil of Rook.

Nearing the treeline by the street, they let go. It was a cut short goodbye.  
Liz could hear a car come closer. So she stopped, took a step back and went low.  
Vaas had looked at her and just smiled. "See you soon, mi reina."  
He stepped out of the treeline, making a cheeky tramping motion.  
The brakes of the car shrieked.  
"Boss!!"  
The conversation was muffeld to her, most was in Spanish anyway so eavesdropping was nearly impossible. The only thing she understood was something was wrong, given how fast Vaas got annoyed and loud, she heard the word radio and some more angry shouting, before the car drove off. 

Where was she?  
It had been HOURS.  
The sun was already close to disappearing.  
Oh god. What if she got forced to go with him?  
What if that asshole did something to her?  
What if he killed her?  
Or worse.. 

Florian was nervously pacing in his shanty.  
This morning, he had been too tired to properly think and tell her again to be careful.  
Right now, he had to leave for the bar in about 30 minutes, but he was not going anywhere without knowing what happened. 

Liz had to be ok.  
He and Jonas wouldn't stand a chance to actually get her out of this assholes claws, even though they would try it.  
If they tried, they would die and Liz would be all alone with this asshole!  
It would be horrible! They would be DOOMED!  
2 Years. Laying low worked for 2 years.  
All just changed because his sister didn't wanted to let someone die, if she could help.  
Flo was not mad about it. He knew Jonas wasn't the biggest Fan of it, but he saw it as it was.  
If he would have been in his sisters shoes, he would have done the same.  
Letting someone die, if you can help them was just as bad as murdering them. 

Also, Flo was a bartender. He knew a LOT of what was going on on Rook, through listening to people talk in the bar.  
He would bet all his money, if Vaas would die, there would be a snowball. He was the leader of the pirates in the north and second in command from the privateers in the south.  
Sure he was a mad man and a psychopath, but you could not deny he did his job well.  
This man had a brain.  
The pirates were a well coordinated bunch, because of him.  
He was the engine in the machine. Rip him out and sure, the cogs would still turn for a short while, but in the end everything would fall apart.  
It would not take long till the Rakyat and Brody would get the island back.  
Sure it sounded great, but only if you were on their side. 

The three of them and the entirety of Bad Town were on a bad foot with the Rakyat.  
The Shanty town was in pirate territory, the people not essentially pirates, but also did not work against them. They all existed in the somewhat neutral limbo of "we don't like what you do, but if we get attacked you will defend our home cause it's 'your' turf. Here is your beer."  
Surely they would make Bad Town suffer as revenge.  
Florian always worried about someone from the Rakyat coming for them. After all they basically told them to fuck off, they did not care for the war, their culture was shit and then left to life in their enemy's territory.  
Sure it had been 2 years and from what Liz told them, Jason hadn't recognized her as a thread. Still, he did try to kill her, by alerting everyone in their sneaking mission. 

Finally the door opened.  
(conversation in german)  
"I am ba-" Flo did not wait for Liz to finish talking.  
He just hugged her. After about 20 seconds, she tapped him, to signal it was more than enough and she probably needed air.  
Flo let go, but kept his hands on her shoulders.  
"I was SO worried! Are you ok? How did it go? Did he hurt you? Do we need to get you somewhere to lay low even more? Do you need a comfort blanket? I made tea, but it's cold. I also made cookies and saved some dough."  
Liz just smiled at him. 

5 minutes later they were sitting on the couch.  
Jonas was out for longer. Apparently something broke down and he had to drive over to repair it. Flo had insisted she would take the blanket and at least the dough, while telling him what happened.  
He checked the time.  
"I need to get going in about 20 minutes"  
"Don't worry bro, I'll keep it short. 

"I can't tell you everything. I promised not to tell anyone some specific things."  
Flo just nodded. "Makes sense and sounds already good."  
"To state the basics. I got all my stuff back, we had a pretty nice day at the beach, talked a lot and came to an agreement." That sounded good.  
"The most important things: Vaas had a few men basically stalking me. They saw how J-J and me got back from the bar and disappeared into the house… So now"  
"Oh god.. He thinks you and Jonas… Oh God. EEW!"  
"That's what i said! He is still pretty suspicious and jealous about it, but we agreed on a few things. But those later. I had caught a crab and found some Scallops. So we ate those together and talked and… I told Vaas about us."  
Florian had to stop her there.  
"You what?" 

"He got suspicious about me being on Rook and well, one thing lead to the other and i told him about the breakout."  
"Oh no.. OOOHH Nooooo. This is bad! This is really bad!"  
Flo could feel how Liz put a hand on his arm.  
"It's ok Flo. We had an agreement. I was going to tell him how we got here and it was not going to change anything, if… I tell him about the thing."  
Oh no. Not the thing! They had never talked or mentioned the thing since they got to Bad Town. Now that he looked at it, there was nothing but a bit of seaweed around it. How had Vaas known about it?  
"are… Are you ok, Liz?" He was worried.  
She looked down to the bowl in her lap. Liz was sitting cross-legged on the couch.  
"Weirdly ok. Anyway. I told him about the breakout, he obviously got mad, but also admitted that it was a mistake made by him and his guys. As for the Tatau.." Oh god.. She never called it that. This was serious. 

"Va- Iro-man, actually comforted me during that. It was weirdly nice to talk about it and just let it all out. He even admitted to regret making me tell him afterwards. But right there, he went too far."  
Flo watched his sister closely. Too far. This guy tried something funny. Oh fuck no.  
"He said something about how he's gonna make the bruise from the syringe bigger and how it would look good and"  
"Jealous, possessive Asshole 101?"  
She nodded.  
"Basically, Yeah. I snapped. I shoved him of me and slapped him."  
"You.. Wait what?"  
"I slapped him." She made a backhand motion.  
No fucking way.  
"You. Backhanded.. You basically bitch slapped V.. Iro-Man??" Flo had to catch himself with the nickname there for a second.  
"Yes. And I think i saved myself from a lot of trouble, by yelling too. Because he was so stunned when i started yelling at him about consent and how he just ignored all the things i told him about…. and that I won't let him treat me like an object and well.. He just sat there in silence.. And.. Don't tell Jonas this, but he kinda blushed at me. Afterwards i told him I want to hear nothing from him until it's a sincere apology."  
He just listened in awe. 

"After that, he just laid in the sand for 4 hours. But once he got back up and over to me on a rock, out in the water, he gave a sincere apology and so we talked. A serious, honest and open talk, about what exactly is going on with us two. Flo, I believe what he told me out there. I truly do."  
Now it was getting serious. Florian was a good listener, he had always been that. Liz obviously left out pretty important things, but he knew why.  
From what he could tell by now, with the kidnapped dinner and now the beach info, Vaas fucking Montenegro either crumbled to a insecure pile in front of her or even cried.  
The way Lizes eyes and voice were filled with confidence and trust in her and his words, gave it away. 

"So.. You guys are now a thing?" it was still a scary thought. This could go south really fast.  
"No." She shook her head.  
"I did tell him, as long as he respects certain wishes of mine, like respect me as a free person, consent, you know the usual, I will give dating a shot."  
"That is.. Good. Actually. Like giving it a shot means you can lay him off at any point."  
This was more a test. Something inside Florians head told him, his sister actually liked the thought of dating that guy.  
"Yeah. I guess. I also agreed to his terms. Basically just don't cheat and don't be naked in front of someone else… So basically just standard stuff i do anyway." 

Oh she was not going to cheat. Flo would lay his head on a chopping block for that.  
He knew it. Not after everything that happened. Flo and Liz had both been cheated on by one of their Exes before. There was no way, she would do that to anyone.  
His little sister always had valued honesty over wrong pride. Vaas had obviously opened up about some shit and shown he's just a guy and that was something Liz deeply respected. Also the way she blushed during the 'we had a honest talk' part was an indicator for him probably saying a LOT of nice things about her. She was never good with taking compliments.  
And not to forget: the man had a great physic. 

Fuck! Honestly? She was in a great spot!  
If that guy was all over her, she was literally the safest person on this hunk of rock in the ocean.  
Who would dare to even think about hurting her?  
And keeping her Ex-Captive freedom in all of it?  
Florian was not going to lie.  
If this man would manage to keep her safe AND make her happy? They would get his blessing. Instant.

His long thinking silence seemed to have woken some worries in his sister.  
"But don't worry! We also decided on a safety system! Everything i do, he gets to do. Like that, consent and boundaries are safe!" She sounded reassuring and proud.  
Wait what did she just say? 

"So.. YOU will take ALL the stepps?"  
She nodded proudly. 

Oh lord.  
Oh boy.  
Ohhh maaan.  
His shy and overthinking little sister, was going to lead this thing all by herself?!  
Sure it was a safety from Vaas turning the dating progress into a sprint.  
But still.  
That man did not know what he just agreed to!  
What a poor guy.  
Somebody warn him!  
Hopefully he had said goodbye to his libido for a WHILE.  
He was in for a long and slow penguin walk. 

She did it.  
Liz actually did it.  
Florian Kaffkind was feeling bad for Vaas Montenegro.


	12. Shower thoughts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I noticed, with the help of a wonderful friend, that i completely misplaced the main compound of Vaas in my memory. I don't know how, but i forgot it's on it's own little island in the North East of the Northern island.  
> So i will just place it there from now on. 
> 
> Also this chapter has some.. idk if it already counts as NSFW?  
> I never wrote something like this. Have mercy.

One day.  
He could not have ONE fucking relaxed day!

It had all gone so well!  
He met and talked with his Angel.  
Learned a lot about her and now he got an honest chance!  
Ok his dearest was not coming home with him.  
But she was now his dearest!  
Maybe only as Date-Girl, but that would sure change!  
Only that fucking voice in his head kept on messing with him. The brother story made no sense. There was no way he would forget 3 siblings!  
And now she was going back there and shower. Which included getting naked. In the house of those fucks.  
Ok sure, maybe telling her, to shower WITH him was too much for now, but it still hurt to think someone could see her like that. Ok it was more that someone except HIM, could see her like that. 

Getting interrupted, annoyed him to no end. It was absolutely rude and disrespectful.  
He was going to point that out, but her words and look were just horrible.  
She completely inflated and shrunk down in front of him.  
Liz apologized and it felt so good to hear, she wanted him to be happy as well!  
But what followed was bad.  
She thought, that he thought, she was a slut. Those weren't the exact words, but that basically brought things to the point.  
He didn't think that!  
Vaas was just.. scared. As hard as it was to admit it.  
He just needed something.  
Something to make sure it was ok to let her go.  
Something to make sure everything from today was not just going to fade away.  
Also he definitely did not need her to do the exact opposite of taking care of herself!  
So he came up with his 3 requests. 

It was an absolute delight to hear her agree so eagerly. It also took a lot of this scared feeling away.  
She knew, Vaas was serious. He would definitely make her watch, while he tortured someone to death. Heck maybe even make her participate, to really drive the point home.  
Nobody was to FUCKING touch this woman EXCEPT HIM!  
If his Nena really liked her 'Brothers' so much, she would not dare to even think anything. 

To be fair, her concern about the free rule break was heavily grounded. She wanted to earn his trust and he wanted hers. Trust took time and effort and he had shown things he wanted. Things she wasn't ready for. If he wanted her, he had to respect that.  
Vaas just wanted something little. Liz had made it clear a kiss was too soon, but he wanted to somehow seal the deal, so to speak.  
From what Vaas had seen in movies, a kiss on the forehead was seemingly a calming motion, showing safety.  
So he went for that.  
Obviously it was the right choice. Her reaction was adorable!

Again he was impressed by his Reina a bit later. When she winced, let go of his hand and basically hid, for a second he was hurt, but then he heard the car.  
She noticed it way before him. Liz could sense the dangers of his island and her body reacted on its own. Fuck. She was so perfect in that way.  
He had wanted to set a place and time for the next meeting, but this opportunity to catch a ride was perfect. It made for a smooth and impressive exit in his mind.  
Also it made resisting the urge, to just take her home with him, way easier.  
His plans for tonight from now were: Get home, get the sand and salt of him, get drunk, get high, enjoy himself, maybe play some poker and then sleep.  
Alone.  
Fuck.  
He just wanted to hold her so bad.  
Patience Vaas, patience. He would get to do it eventually.

Unfortunately things weren't that easy.  
Vaas was currently in the back of a car driving towards one of the better secured outpost.  
The main radio tower for the north eastern part of his island was down.  
Why?  
Well neither Snow white, nor some other fucking Rakyat Warrior.  
One of HIS men, drove into it. Full force. Apparently, a tiger had jumped onto the back of the car, while he drove into the outpost.  
Causing that FUCKING IDIOT to go max speed and crash.  
His man was dead, the tiger apparently fled after that. They couldn't even kill the FUCKING Tiger!  
Vaas was PISSED.  
He was in the back of the scavenger, holding on to the frame and also keeping the loaded goods in place. There were cables and other parts. From what he was told, someone was already fixing it, his men just got a few extra parts that could maybe help and that's when they saw him walk out of the Jungle.. 

At the outpost, he could see a guy, not a pirate, work on tower controls. Vaas had seen him before. This man fixed a lot of things for him and his men. Cars, Radios, Generators and so on.  
Never made trouble, knew his place, did his job, pissed off after he was done and no stupid questions asked.  
So at least shit was getting fixed soon.  
The sun was nearly down by now.

The control panel was trash, he could tell that from here, the generator seemed to have blown up as well.  
At least they had a new one running already, so they wouldn't sit in the dark.  
Vaas had done so many things in his life, but he never killed one of his men.  
Good thing that IDIOT was dead already!  
Otherwise that might have changed today! 

He was just about to walk towards the tower and ask the fixer how long it would take, when he was spoken to.  
"Hey.. Um Boss. That's him." It was one of the guys he had set on finding Lisa. To be specific, the one who told him about the other man.  
No. Fucking. Way.  
THIS guy?  
That was the FUCKSHIT she went with?  
Her so called BROTHER?  
A burst of pain shot through his entire body. 

Without a word to his schout, he just made his way over to the man in question.  
Vaas boiled with rage, but something stopped and calmed him down a bit, while walking.  
'Are you talking about my brother?'  
'it would be pretty damn fucked up, if i would sleep with my older brother, wouldn't it?'  
He could hear her in his head.  
'I am ready to give this date-thing a shot.'  
'Yes. I promise.'  
'.. Please don't act on rumors.'

He could just get rid of that guy, right now.  
If he was her brother though, she would get mad. She would hate his guts for that!  
Vaas hated his family, but his angel seemed to love hers.  
Fine. If this guy was really her brother and did not fuck her, he could find that out right now. 

"So what's the FUCKING situation here, Hermano?"  
Vaas stood next to the panel, looking at the Mechanic. The Pirate lord was still a little bit pissed from the bad thoughts in his head.  
The guy was obviously a bit taken aback, by Vaas being here, but answered nonetheless.  
"Well the panel got a pretty hard blow, but it can be somewhat saved. Won't look as pretty, as before, but it'll work. I got all the needed parts for that. As for the generator…" He pointed at it. "Sorry to say it, but that thing is trashed. I already looked it over. Only thing you can save from that is the cable." After that, he pointed past Vaas to the car. "Same for the car. The motor, axis, distributor and basically the entire front part of it, is completely destroyed. I haven't gotten the chance jet, to look for anything that's still useful. Was told to get the radio tower back up first." 

As always, the man did his job.  
Fuck! He needed that guy. Getting communication back up and running was more important, than his personal problems right now.  
"How long?"  
"Well.. Now that i have the needed parts." He looked to his work. The box his men had brought was at the bottom of the controller.  
"I would say give me.. 3 hours? Maybe 4. Depends, if one of the transmitting units is broken, but i won't be able to tell that, till i try putting it back online. Even if it is broken, i should be able to manage. The tower should be working again absolutely latest at sunrise." 

The good thing about this situation was, that it was not something his stupid bitch of a sister was behind. So at least the possibility of a good planned attack was very small.  
From what he was told, Carlos and a few other of his men, were driving control rounds to all the outposts that were cut from the communication. Also his compound was not affected. He had a separate tower there. 

"Well then, hermano, do your magic."  
And he did. The mechanic went right back to it. Sticking his head down in the mess of cables and parts.  
There was only one thing that was off about this guy. The tone and way he talked was respectful and professional, but his eyes spoke a different language.  
Technically, he shouldn't know, Vaas knew about his relationship to his Reina or what his men saw.  
To him, Vaas only knew, he was just the repair guy living his life, doing his job.  
All he knew for today, was Vaas met his 'Sister' alone at a beach. The mechanics eyes tried to hide, how much he hated it, but failed miserably at it.  
This guy had a problem with him and oh boy, Vaas would love to talk about it. 

While his helper was on his knees, fumbling with cables and parts, Vaas lit a cigar and took a long drag from it.  
"I was pretty busy today, did anything else happen, while i was gone? Did you have a good day, Hermano?"  
"I only know the tower broke down at about 2pm, since then i have been here, maybe your men know more. My day? It was ok, could be better."  
Hm.. That didn't work as intended. At least the man knew, Vaas hated it, when people ignored his questions.  
"Well mine was really great, till i got informed about this shit here, of course! Really! A fun day at the beach, good food, GREAT company, FUN activities, if you know what i mean." 

That already got his friend to tense up. None of the things he said were lies. He did have fun. Just in a different way, than what what his tone indicated.  
"That's… Nice, i guess. Hey, I usually don't talk during work, it kind off slows me down. No Offense."  
Uhh now the amount of underlying anger desperately hidden in that voice.  
God this was fun.  
How far could he go, till this guy gave up?  
An idea popped into his head. 

Vaas crouched beside him and placed a Hand on his shoulder.  
"Why so tense hermano? You seem stressed?"  
It took a bit longer to get an answer, he could practically hear the gnashing of teeth.  
"Not everyday, a tower breaks. It’s a lot of stress for everyone. I also still have a lot of things to do at the workshop."  
Vaas nodded understanding and took another drag from his cigar.  
"I see.. Well that's not good. Too much stress is bad, hermano. That can be really fucking bad for your health. You gotta treat yourself a bit more! Enjoy life! You know what? You do so much good work for me and my men. As soon as my tower works again, get yourself some pussy. You'll see, all that bad stress is going to shoot right out of your body! Literally! Believe me, i know what the fuck i am talking about. There are some really fucking good woman in Bad Town. My treat!" He placed a bundle of cash next to the Mechanics foot.

The Pirate lord could watch how the screwdriver was held with such force, the knuckles went white.  
Everything tensed up now.  
He could hear the most silent mumble. 

"What was that, hermano?" Vaas couldn't hold back a grin. "Couldn't quite understand you there."  
Their eyes met. Someone was angry. But this guy knew his place and didn't act on his anger it seemed. Respect.  
"Where is she… Where is my sister? What did you do to her?" It was still silent enough that no one else was going to hear it, except Vaas of course.  
"Who?" it was an obvious lie, both of them knew who was talked about.  
"Liz. My little sister. She told me she was meeting you. Where is she?" God he loved that tone of voice. This guy desperately tried to hide his fear and seem tough.  
It was obvious he wanted to add spite to his voice, but he also knew who he was talking to.  
It was an impressive display of self control.  
"Oh? Your sister, hu? You don't really look alike."  
The Pirate lord just grinned and took another drag. He couldn’t help but smile cheekily while exhaling the smoke.

"We are not directly related by blood, but she is still my little sister and i am worried for her safety."  
That was interesting. Not directly by blood. Half siblings?  
Vaas gave him a nod.  
"I have a half sister too. Hate that bitch."  
"Sorry to hear that, but i love my sis-."  
"Have you ever fucked her?" He shot that question back with purpose.  
Honestly, Vaas expected a lot of things from the following answer. An honest yes, lies, dodging the question and so on.  
The man staring at him perplex and genuinely dry heaving in front of him, was not one of them. That was a surprise.  
He honestly had to snicker a bit.  
Once the man had control over reflexes again, he looked Vaas back in the eye.  
"Are you nuts?! She's my sister! Who does that kind of fucked up shit?"  
It was the first time this guy had snapped his tone against him. Vaas was going to let it slide, cause well..  
That was an obvious no. This was great!  
"Well if that is the case, she is home."  
He padded the mechanics shoulder twice.  
"Wait, the home of who. Wh-"  
"Don't forget to treat yourself, Hermano! "  
The pirate lord just got up and walked away, grinning like a child. 

The repair guy didn't get a chance to ask him again, when Vaas jumped into one of the cars and went on his way home. 

It was already pitch black when Vaas finally arrived at his fortress.  
The compound was alive in the young night, as always.  
The sounds of music, his men playing cards, some wolf-whistling to strippers, dogs ripping apart their dinner and if you walked by certain corners, moans and grunts could be heard.  
Vaas had two places he called his own here.  
A small shanty next to the biggest metal building, for when he was too drunk/high/impatient with whores for stairs and, of course, his main quarters upstairs in the metal building.  
There he had everything he needed.  
His desk, maps, a extra stash of his favorite wine, other alkohol, drugs, his tv, dvd player, his dvd collection and a big fucking bed just for him.  
What? He was the fucking KING of the island! Of course he had to manspread a bit!

The tower incident had cost him a lot of time, so for now, Vaas was just going to wash the sand and salt of his skin and go to sleep. It started to itch in places by now. Hopefully his Nena already took some good care of herself. 

There were two bathrooms in his personal place. One with just a toilet and the other with a walk in shower and a tub. The shower was build for 3 people, but only 2 pipes had a shower heads. It was like this when he came here. There was also a step in the wall, functioning as a shelf for soap and shit. The showerhead in the middle was working perfectly fine, the one furthest from the door on the other hand.. It was a bit busted and gave an irregular stream of water. The busted head also only worked with cold water.  
Vaas liked that one.  
It felt like a mixture of rain and waterfall. 

Hadn't his Nena said, she was usually using a waterfall? But she also said she was going to use warm water tonight.  
Fuck, she would love this.  
She would love it here.  
While the cold water ran down his skin, Vaas let all waterfalls, he knew of, run in the back of his mind. She said it was close to her home, so if he could find the right one, he could find where she always disappeared to. Also maybe 'accidentally' stumble upon her, while she was cleaning her body. 

It had to be an amazing picture.  
Her fragile looking frame, holding itself with ease under the crashing water.  
How long would it take her to spot him, if he was just standing out in the open?  
She would probably blush and tell him to turn around or try jumping into the water, at the waterfalls foot, covering herself. But those waters were usually clear and clean, so no need to try and hide there.  
Or she could invite him to join.  
Unlikely, sure, but she did say earlier, that showering with him was way further down the line. That meant, it was a thing that was going to happen at a specific time in the future!  
What would he give for that time to be now…  
He would make sure every last grain of sand was of her body.  
Would she do the same for him?  
The Pirate Lord let his mind wander deeper in that direction.

Unfortunately he didn't know how her skin felt in every part of her body.  
So imagining it felt oddly weird. He wanted the real deal!  
What he could imagine way better, was the other way around. He had felt her hands in his own and on his face and lips.  
They were small but strong, covered in tiny scratches and scars of her survival. Yet, they were still soft and oh so caring.  
He could nearly feel, how they would glide over him. Release the tension in his shoulders, the mumbling of caring phrases in his ear. Careful fingertips, feeling his arms, admiring his strength.  
How would they feel on his chest and abdomen? What would she think of the scars there? The signs of his savior. His guardian Angel.  
Her work of wonder, allowing him to still be here. 

Vaas could feel the sand wash away, the salt leaving the pores of his skin.  
Did she love that feeling as much as he did?  
Something in him wondered if his Reina was doing the same, he did right now.  
Was she standing under the running water, thinking about him?  
Was she already asleep?  
Was she going to dream of today?  
Maybe even go a little further, imagine more with him.  
The way he just did in the shower.

Yes, he told her, he wasn't thinking about it, but fuck. Right now? He sure as fuck did it for the first time in the over 3 weeks he knew of her.  
Right now he really wanted to pin her against the shower wall.  
Just pin her against it, drive her nuts, till he couldn't tell if the tremble in her body was from the cold water or because of him.  
Afterwards he would carry his bride to the bed and ruin all the work of getting clean, until every single one of his men could hear his queen moan his name. 

Fuck. Now he had another part of his body, seeking attention.  
Usually he would just get a whore, but that was not possible anymore. After all, he couldn't ask his Reina to be true to him and then cheat himself.  
No no no, he was a fucking gentleman!  
So his mind wandered a bit more

How would she feel?  
Vaas would bet money, she was nice and tight.  
In his mind, she was at least never touched since she was on his island.  
After 2 years that woman had to be desperate.  
What would she say?  
How would her voice sound with that tone that screamed 'fuck me!'?  
Would she be even able to say anything?  
How would those diamonds look like, clouded by lust and want?  
He would leave marks everywhere on her skin.  
Would there be marks on his body?  
Would she leave them on purpose or would she just claw and bite desperately, trying to hold on and get closer?  
How would he do her?  
What was her favorite way of being fucked?  
He would try them all, just to find out.  
How would her body feel in his hands, being rocked by ever move of him?  
What did she look like, sound like, FEEL like, when he pushed her over the edge?  
How was she going to look like afterwards?  
Covered in sweat and out of breath…  
Would she sleep on his chest, in his arms or would she be more of a spoon from the side?  
She would be finally letting all her guard down with him, seeking the safety of his embrace. How long would it take for her to fall asleep? Was she going to whisper praises in his ear, till both drifted off?  
Fuck. He wanted to know those things so bad.  
A fantasy started to build it self. 

After the deed was done, Vaas fell in his bed. Body clean, naked, happy and relaxed.  
Laying on his back, he folded his hands under his head and closed his eyes.  
Vaas just enjoyed the light breeze coming from the slightly ajar window.  
The sounds of music and speech outside slowly died out. Soon only the night watch was out and the Jungle sounds took over.  
It was calming.  
It was home. 

Today had been amazing.  
All in all, he achieved a lot. Sure there were some setbacks, but honestly?  
He was content and happy with today.  
Vaas learned so much about his Angel.  
Her name.  
How she got here on his island.  
How she got away unnoticed from his cages.  
She had two brothers.  
Now he knew that she did indeed not fuck her brother. The second one was still a wild card, but Vaas had her promise.  
Her favorite place, on his island.  
Her, apparently, favorite food.  
Why she was inked and how much she hated the Rakyat.  
He had seen how strong she was.  
How brave and how imposing her voice could be, if she wanted.  
Again he was shown just how much she carried the jungle in her heart.  
When he was on the car, Vaas was not able to spot her again, he could only feel her eyes.  
His Nena was so perfect.  
Over 3 Weeks ago, Vaas still thought she was just an hallucination, but no. This woman was real.  
It took so long to find her. To catch her.  
But now he could finally make her his.  
Right now being alone felt less horrible.  
It was going to change soon anyway.  
Vaas drifted into sleep with a smile on his face.  
Something told him he was gonna sleep just fine.

Not even 15 minutes later, his eyes shot open and he sat up straight.  
Vaas just had an epiphany.  
Wasn't it weird how you always had moments like these, when you wanted to sleep or were under the shower? 

His Queen, his Reina was perfect.  
And now he fucking knew why. 

She had broken out of his compound with her brothers and friends. Her and her brothers disappearing unnoticed. 

Unlike someone else, he caught running away. 

She was inked by the Rakyat. The tatau of a warrior, but she hated it and wanted nothing to do with them or their war with him and the pirates. 

Unlike someone else, who was wearing it with pride, like a prize. Fighting for the Rakyat, for his sister. 

She ran errands for Doc Earnhardt. Basically helping him supply drugs for the pirates. 

Unlike someone else, who burned down the Marijuana fields. 

For the past two years she layed low, living peacefully in his territory. Never fucking with his shit, never killing his men, never pissing on his fucking sunshine. 

Unlike someone else, who was nothing but a pain in the ass, since he got here. 

She was careful, gentle, kind and respectful. Speaking carefully to him and being honest. Respecting his position.

Unlike someone else, who was nothing but fucking rude and disrespectful to him. 

She accepted the jungle deep in her heart and soul. She was part of it. She was elegant, gentle, but surely, a deadly predator. 

Unlike someone else, who was trying to make the jungle his bitch.

She had saved his life.  
After someone else, tried to take it. 

It all made sense now.  
Lisa was the opposite of Jason.  
They had similarities, but yet, they were complete opposites. 

American white ass fuck boy.  
European white, but sun-kissed woman.  
From the opposite sides of the globe.

Both short brown hair.  
Her hair was a bit lighter color and shorter on the sides. 

Both runaway Ex-Captives.  
But she was stronger than him. She survived the jungle for 2 years, while he was just here for a short time. 

Both had two Brothers.  
Well HAD for Snow white.  
Again, Lisa was the opposite. Hers were still alive. 

It even went so far as their dominant hand.  
Jason was right handed.  
Lisa was left handed. 

While Jason immediately went and fucked his sister, Lisa didn't immediately jump on Vaas dick.  
She was way more careful, she wasn't a slut or fuck boy like his sister and Jason. 

But still.  
She seemed interested in him.  
She agreed to give him a shot.  
She FUCKING TOLD HIM, she had decided it, BEFORE HE TOLD HER ALL HIS SHIT!  
She just wanted to make sure, because she was a careful and smart survivor, respecting his power. 

Unlike Jason to his sister, she was not going to just come to him.  
She was to be earned.  
Like a Queen should be. 

Vaas started chuckling deep in his chest.  
It got louder and louder until he was full on laughing, falling back into the mattress. 

This was Fucking PERFECT.  
It was so FUCKING SYMBOLIC!  
YES!  
It was so obvious!  
How did he not catch it sooner?  
IT ALL FINALLY MADE FUCKING SENSE NOW!  
This woman was not just his guardian Angel, his Reina, his baby girl.  
NO!

This woman was his MOTERFUCKING DESTINY!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to point something out!  
> The midnight epiphany was literally an epiphany I had in the middle of the night, while writing this chapter.  
> I never actually planned this. It just somehow happened and worked so well :D  
> I never intended to make liz such an exact opposite of jason.  
> But here we are.  
> And it just felt right, to let Vaas have the epiphany too.


	13. A Fathers Favor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took way longer than i wanted it to.   
> But i hope, whoever reads this, has a lovely day.   
> Everyone stay safe and healty!   
> See you in the next chapter.   
> *Insert Social distancing hug per internet here*

Morning was difficult for Liz. She was tired and worried.  
After Florian left, she had taken her wonderful 40 minute warm shower.  
During that, she let the day drift past her again. 

Honestly? It all went way better than she expected. Ok to be fair, ending the day with her officially dating a sadistic psychopath was not what she expected to happen. Still it was better than all the agony she was afraid of.  
In those 4 hours, she had for herself, all the little things just didn't leave her mind.  
The clear effort put in the dinner, that hidden pain deep in the eyes and voice, the not there, but still there shiver, she felt under her hand while soothing him, the careful touch at her tattoo, trying everything to calm her down.  
Something in her gut told her, that giving this a shot was right.  
What he had told her out there, reassured her gut feeling .  
So she did it.  
And her talk with Flo helped her be sure about it too. Her brother trusted in her decisions.  
Crashing down on the couch, Liz fell asleep pretty fast.

But her peace didn't last.  
Jonas had come back in the middle of the night, shaking her awake. He was worried, kind of panicked even. Liz was too tired, to think with her full brain. She answered his questions and told him, that everything was fine.  
No, he did not touch her.  
No, he did not threatened her.  
No, he did not force her to anything.  
No, all of this mess was not finally over, but she was contend with that. 

It took ages to calm her brother down. Sure, she imagined him, to be the one who freaks out a bit more, being the oldest and all, but Jonas was extremely anxious.

That anxiety in her oldest brothers voice, caused Liz to keep her story in a nicer tone.  
They met at the beach, ate together, talked about stuff for the entire day practically. Vaas had told her, about his concern regarding being seen with someone else. That's when the eyes of J-J went big.  
Liz immediately reassured that she explained, who and what they were, BUT no need to panic! It was all settled.  
She told him, they talked about a lot of things from both sides of their perspectives and that, this was the hardest part, Liz agreed to give Vaas a shot and now they are dating, ONLY dating and like the getting to know each other first part. So no worries!  
Also how they agreed, that Liz was the one, who controlled how and where this was going.  
She kept everything breef. Jonas hadn't even gotten close to the amount of details that Florian knew. 

Flo had seemed worried about her, but accepted her decision.  
Jonas was panicked and immediately told her how this was a mistake. How this man was going to play with her, hurt or even break her.  
How he would play by their rules until he would grow impatient and then just force her to do whatever he wanted.  
That this was nothing but a sick game for him.  
She wasn't something special to this guy, just a toy. A runaway captive that wasn't obedient, yet. Because that's what this monster was aiming to turn her into. Nothing but a doll, a puppet. Play with her and then throw her away like a used napkin.  
As soon as she would do something that would trigger Vaas, he would just rip her apart.  
Thanks Jonas, very reassuring.  
Thank you for crushing her confidence. 

Once her brother was finally calmed down, the sun was already rising. Flo had also come home from his shift. Both her brothers were sleeping now and Lisa was wide awake.  
Great.  
Liz had stuff to do today, so she didn't even try to go back to sleep. Just a quick breakfast, getting geared up and she was on her way. 

Before even trying to look for the plants on her to-do list, Liz went to the mansion.  
After all it had been 4 days. Maybe Alec needed something else too. The things on her list, weren't anything rare or hard to find. They were just hard to reach plants, if you were an old man.  
After her usual 5 minutes of making sure no pirates or privateers were there, she came into the open.  
No note on the windowsill, but the old chemist spotted her and waved. 

After a happy welcome, Liz was immediately invited for tea.  
Inside the old house, they sat together.  
"I have been getting worried, my dear."  
"Yeah, i had a few.. Eventful days. I am sorry i couldn't get what you needed, but i will get it done today." Her kind smile, was met with concern.  
"Is has to do with him, doesn't it?"  
"What do you mean?"  
Alec took a sip of tea. "While i treated him here, Vaas kept asking about you. I only said, you were a friend, gathering the ingredients i need, so i can focus more on my work." Well, it wasn't a lie. That was what she did. "I never said anything else. That man is very dangerous and smart. You need to be careful, Agnes."  
She nodded. "Yeah, he is… i.. kind of agreed to getting to know the man better. But don't worry. I got this."  
Her old friend nodded silently, watching his tea swirl in the cup. He seemed to think for a moment. 

"I am getting old, Agnes, my dear." Two wrinkled eyes started to smile at her. "I know, you already help me so much, but do you think, i could ask you a Favor?"  
That was unexpected, but Alec had helped her so much, she would never let him down. "Uhm.. Sure? What do you need help with? What can i do?"  
“My back is killing me lately.” He slowly got up with his cup of tea and began walking outside. Liz followed him, bringing her cup and the kettle.  
Alec walked them towards the greenhouse and opened the door.  
“I could use some help with processing the herbs, mushrooms and substances.”

Liz had never been inside the greenhouse. Many plant Boxes with big mushrooms, pots and hanging baskets filled with plants and overall vines and herbs, that grew wildly at the roof. From strings, hanging everywhere, herbs and Mushrooms hung to dry.  
Alec sat down on a chair next to a laboratory table. It had a sink, a microscope, a scale, viles, beakers, a bunsen burner with a tripod, a retort, test tube racks, mortar and pestle and so on. A few books were scattered on pots, the table and the ground. This was the place Alec made nearly everything. Meds, salves, sedatives, Drugs, you name it.  
Everything he could not grow here, was supplied by Liz on her foraging runs. 

“..wait. You want me to help you.. make drugs?” She would do anything for Alec, but that was something very unsettling. Supplying the things he needed to make drugs? Sure. Liz never knew what exactly could be made from the Herbs and Mushrooms in her Fauna Book. She only ever had the effects and usage of edible things and things to be used as first aid for herself written down. All the other things, like hallucinogenic mushrooms, special herbs and stuff, was all noted with. ‘Do not eat! For Alec! $$$!’.  
That could range from, he makes a salve against burn wounds over medicine for a fever up to ‘let's take a trip to wonderland’. She never questioned it. He made his living with that stuff here. But making the shit herself? Liz wasn’t a doctor and certainly not a chemist. 

“I would start with a salve for mild skin injury, like the one i always give you, but yes at one point.. It would be a great help.” Something about the Look, that Alec gave her, felt off.  
The old chemist, took a piece of paper and began writing things down, they would need for the salve.  
“If you want to and can bring me the materials, i can start teaching you tomorrow.” He held the paper out. It had names and rough sketches of the needed things like plants, berries etc. Fortunately, Liz didn’t need the drawings anymore. Next to all her things, that were already in her backpack back when she was cordially invited to the dinner, was her Notebook with all the fauna. Apparently the pirate lord knew it was hers and put it in there.  
She took the paper and looked at Alec.  
“.. Is this really about your back?” Something seemed really fishy about this. 

The Doctor held her gaze for a few seconds, until he sighed in defeat.  
“I just can't lie to you, can i? I wanted to do this for a long time and now that you've grown up so much and seem to get into contact with the even more dangerous people of this place, it seems to be a good moment. I want to make sure you will be safe, my dear child. To be safe, from the red and even the yellow men, you have to be important and to be important, you have to be useful.” Alec took her hands into his, in a careful manner.  
“I think, i could help you achieve that safety. I am an Old man, an apprentice would surely help me and with the needed time and skill set, you could turn into a very useful person. There have been moments, where my position, my usefulness, has saved me quite some trouble. Knowledge can be deadly, so i wont ask, but the amount of times, he asked about you, is concerning. You are affiliating yourself with the second most deadly man on both of these islands combined. I would love to teach you what i know. For my sake and for your own. Please Agnes. I beg you.”  
Alec gave her a nearly pleading look. 

Ever since Lisa stumbled upon the mansion for the first time, Alec had welcomed her with open arms. He always helped her, when she needed him. He was like a father figure. A 24/7 high, crazy and drug producing doctor father figure, but still. Knowing she was never seeing her family again and having already decided upon the new name with her brothers, Liz happily welcomed Alec in her makeshift, patchwork family on Rook.  
Sometimes she really felt like, he completely lost the line between his dead baby daughter and her. Maybe he had by now. Maybe he did the same Liz did with her friends? Telling herself, they all died, until she believed it. She did nearly slip up and just barely dodged, calling him Dad once. Maybe she should do it at some point.  
Often he proclaimed, how sad it was, that she couldn’t stay in the empty bedroom upstairs. It was to dangerous, with pirates coming over to him nearly every day. He knew Liz had long adapted to the Jungle, but still he always was worried and did what he could to help her out. 

He had a good point. It was true. Dr. Alec Earnhardt was an important figure. Sure, if he died, it would be possible to find a new chemist, but that would require effort in finding one that is also willing to stay here. Also he was a great doctor, so they would have to find a new one for that position too.  
Alec was also a very easy to maintain person, so to speak. He lived in his house, produced what they needed, got his money and that was it. Except for rare moments of him asking to get certain objects, like the child things upstairs and other very easy obtainable stuff, no big demands or other bullshit.  
Currently Liz was nothing but a runaway captive. The only people that knew of her existence where her brothers, who were also runaways, Alec, who would never stab her in the back, the owner of the bar in Bad Town, who would never stab Flo or J-J in the back and of course now.. Vaas and a few of his men, who very much could stab her in the back. 

Also, even in the case that the whole thing with her and Vaas would go anywhere. Being in some form of a position of importance to the main system, would be an immense help.  
If he would, at some point, really go and just break the deal, Liz would be too important and useful, to just be locked up as a personal slave.  
And if it would go serious in a good way, she would have a giant target on her back.  
If the Rakyat would find out, they would hunt her down.  
Jason would hunt her down! Right, that one also knew about her. He would be the first to make the connection between Vaas being alive and her being at the compound at the same time.  
As a apprentice for Alec, learning the medical and drug shit, there was a plausible excuse for her being in contact with this guy and the pirates, from now on. After all, Jason ruined her old way of getting supplies. Of course Liz needed to find a new way! She had told Jason, she helped Alec before. So now she would just be helping more. 

And the most important point of all:  
Doc. Alec Earnhardt was a neutral player. Sure he sold Drugs to the pirates, privateers and black market, BUT he was also a doctor, helping anyone who needed his help. Pirates, Privateers and Rook islanders alike. The Rakyat were welcome as well, but they usually didn't wanted his help. 

Liz just sighed happily and smiled at the Old doctor. "Alec.. You never stop looking out for me. Thank you. I would love to learn from you!" freeing her hands, she hugged the old man. "Just promise me, you will be careful."  
"Of course, Al."  
Her embrace was answered and both shared a short moment.  
During the rest of their tea, Alec showed her the different plants, growing in his greenhouse. They stayed away from the mushrooms for now.  
"Maybe you shouldn't breathe in those spores. Except if you want to try the effects yourself, of course." na, she would call that a pass.  
After her Teatime, Liz made her way into the jungle. 

During her gathering of plants, fruits and berries, a few thoughts brushed threw her mind.  
Now that she was going to learn from Alec, would she tell Vaas right away, once they met again? Should she keep it a secret?  
To be honest, the point where she would be a useful and important enough person, as an effective help for Alec or even as backup for the case of him dying, was far away.  
There was no way of learning those things in a month or two. Still, maybe Alec should be the one to inform the pirates about his plans. But should she give, like, a heads up?  
Maybe just casually mention it, if there is like a, hey how was your day situation?  
Also she said, she wanted to start giving a bit of trust to this man. It was an information he was getting anyway, so.. Yeah it should be an ok thing to do.  
Right?  
So just casually mention it, when they meet. 

Wait.  
They didn't set a time and place last time.  
They still had to do that.  
How would they do that?  
Liz was not really an easy to reach person and she was sure as hell not gonna just walk up to the compound or any group of pirates.  
She really paid attention to her surroundings, since she heard of the Pirate stalkers. Not a single soul was following her.  
The was no radio she was reachable from and the Walkie-talkie connecting her with Alec was always off on her end, to not accidentally blow her cover.  
Also, if Liz was going to learn from Alec, she was probably not going to be in Bad Town for a few days.  
There was one plant on her list, that grew around the eastern side near where Treeline met sand. That meant she was walking by Bad Town. So maybe later, she was going to stop by and tell her brothers the happy news, but tonight Liz was gonna sleep in her place again. 

Telling her Brothers was difficult. Not because of the news, those were great, but Florian was high as a kite in their house, enjoying the day before his shift in the bar and Jonas was busy in the workshop, taking apart a crashed car for parts. Both congratulated her on the 'Promotion'. Still both also told her to obviously still be careful. 

Finding the needed plants wasn't that hard. The only thing difficult about it, was dodging the patrols of pirates. The young woman also made it a point, to never leave the treeline and step onto the beach. It was way to out in the open. Her beach was the only one she went to, because she had never once seen anyone there. While at it, she also spotted some of the berries and roots, she would need for tomorrow. 

Liz took her time collecting. It was already past lunchtime. She currently munched on a few figs she had picked of a tree.  
Her mind constantly went back to her brothers words.  
Did she agree to this too easily?  
Was she getting played? Did he lie about accepting her rules, just so she would say yes? He did follow them until now.  
Was that going to stay like this?  
Was he going to wait, till Liz showed him a certain amount of trust to lure her into a trap?  
It did sound plausible, but at the same time it went against what she felt like. He really seemed defeated out there on the rock and genuine with his words.  
It was such a perplex and unreal thought.  
There was a gentle guy somewhere in there.  
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"  
Or not. 

Liz went low. A bit further to the side, there was a street and on it multiple cars. 3 cars to be specific. Two cargo trucks without the tarp and one technical with a machine-gun mounted on the back. From the direction they were pointed at, they came from the beach.  
The lush made it hard to see anything super specific, but she could still very clearly make out the red top of Vaas on the back of a truck, jumping down. Around him were a bunch of more red spots, so more Pirates.  
Usually she would bail, but somehow she didn't. This could be an opportunity to communicate something.. Right? Ok he was out with his men and… oh god. From what it looked like a bunch of new captives.  
They were pushed from the back of the cargo and put in a line, on their knees. All had bags over their heads, except one guy. He was in the middle of the line of captives.  
She wasn't close enough to hear the normal speech, but she could make out parts of the yelling.  
Whoever this guy was, he had balls, but unfortunately no brain. Liz could hear his voice being loud and challenging.  
Did he just call Vaas a cocksucking son of a whore?  
Really?  
This was not going to end well..

Maybe Liz should get closer..  
Ok what was wrong with her? This was NOT a situation to get closer too!  
Still she sneaked a few more steps towards the action.  
She had to somehow break up those two or this guy was dead.  
Maybe she could pull a cheeky one and shoot an arrow with a message?  
Something like.  
“Hey there,  
What is your schedule for the next few days?  
We didn’t set a new meeting time and place.  
Won’t be near Bad Town for a while.  
I will run around in the area of the Doc though.  
Have a nice day,  
-Liz”

It would surely distract Vaas and maybe save this cocky idiots life.  
She would have to bolt right after though, because the pirates would surely shoot in the direction of an arrow, before questioning it.  
After all, could be a Rakyat.  
Maybe she should try something different.  
Liz also shouldn’t waste so much time thinking.  
BANG! 

Her eyes snapped back to the scene.  
"I am the one with the FUCKING DICK HERE! YOU GOT THAT?"  
The previously all bagged captives, had their eyes free. They all were kneeling on the ground, hands tied behind their backs. Guns were pointed at them by pirates, as they all stared at the lifeless man, that annoyed Vaas enough to make an example.  
Honestly? He lived a lot longer than she expected. Or to say it differently, Vaas kept his cool a lot longer than she expected.  
Liz couldn't see the corpse, but from the looks of horror on the other faces, it probably looked ugly.  
She heard cries and whimpers.  
"I said SHUT THE FUCK UP!" 

It wasn't exactly silent, you could practically hear these poor people shiver in fear. Still, they all did their best to hide the noises of dismay.  
"You all better fucking hope mommy and daddy love you, cause it would be a fucking shame, if not." That sentence was followed by a whistle and something in Spanish. The Pirates put the bags back over the captives heads and shoved them back on the cargo trucks.  
Another sharp whistle in the direction of a single pirate with arms covered in bandages.  
"Clean this shit up." Liz could hear from here, how the voice turned smug. "Maybe this time the fucking dogs won't bite you, when you throw them their meal, Hermano."  
The pirate just huffed and said something in spanish, as he hauled the corps into the back of one of the cargo trucks. The comment of his men and the freaked out and jerking away captives, that were hit by the dead body, made Vaas laugh.  
The Pirate lord himself jumped onto one of the cargos, literally walked over the corpse to the front and they took off. Probably towards one of the near outposts or even to the docks to be shipped over to the Compound. 

Oh boy..  
Vaas just shot a poor innocent man. To be fair, he did kind of ask for it, but still.  
He yelled at the terrified people, that witnessed it all.  
Basically told them, they would die, if their families didn't pay up. Got them blindfolded and shoved into a truck and followed it all up by making a joke about how one of his men was going to feed the corpse to his dogs.  
Ending with him literally walking over a dead body. 

Whos idea was it to date this guy again?


	14. Welcome to my show!

"Isn't it sad? Everyone always says: Family is precious, family is priceless."  
Vaas was pacing slowly in front of 6 kneeling men. Their hands and were tied behind their backs.  
"Family is a fucking lie. It's bullshit! No one wants to fucking pay for you…"  
BANG.  
"All they want is more and more and more. But where are they now? Where are they when YOU FUCKING need them!?"  
BANG.  
"So many of you fuckers… and no one loves you."  
Vaas pushed his gun flat with the third guys forehead, forcing his eyes up to meet his.  
"No one. Fucking. Loves. You."  
BANG.  
"All of you fucks are just. Fucking. WORTHLESS."  
BANG.  
"Look a-"  
"Phillip! Joe! NO! Get away from them! Leave them alone, you psychopath!"  
From the cages a black haired woman yelled at him. If he remembered right she was brazilian, just like the two guys in front of him.  
One of his men hit her in the belly with the barrel of his rifle, telling her to shut up. Next to that bitch, miss 'break out' sat and just stared on the ground in silence. Acting, as if she didn't knew her loud cage mate. She's been a good girl since her little alone time.  
"No, no, hermano." Vaas waved them over with his free hand. "Get her over here!"  
His men opened the cage and ripped the woman out of it.  
Both of the rejects in front of him started to panic.  
"Please! She has nothing to do-" "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" 

The woman was dragged by her arm and brought up to him on the little wooden stage.  
"What's your name?"  
Silence.  
From the look on that bitches face, she already regretted speaking up.  
"I asked you A FUCKING QUESTION, HERMANA!"  
She winced.  
"S.. Sam."  
"well Sam, first off it is really fucking rude to interrupt someone, no?"  
A very shaky nod was the answer. "S-sorry."  
Vaas spread his arms in a wide motion. "Also, it looks like you are not having fun on my island? Am i not a good host? Have i failed to entertain you!?"  
It was an annoyed and rhetorical question. This stupid Bitch! She was here long enough to know, not to fuck with him! Holiday was fucking over!  
On the other hand this had potential. Those two rejects were from the same batch of captives. No one had paid ransom for her either, but she was one of the people that were about to be brought over to Hoyt to get put on the market.  
Apparently that woman cared for those two, sad fuckboys.  
Why not have a little fun? 

"Let's get rid of that boredom, shall we, hermana? How about a nice game?" He grabbed his new players arm and pulled her in front of himself. Vaas left arm was around her waist, holding her in place, while his right arm pointed his gun between the two men.  
Sam was shaking in his grasp.  
"Now, Sam we are gonna put on a Game-Show. That will be entertaining, no? How about we start by telling everyone who these poor fucks are?"  
This grabbed the attention of a few more of his men. Usually most were all doing other shit, while je took care of the rejects. Mainly to avoid being the one who has to clean up afterwards, but now, things would get more interesting and fun.  
When the woman took to long, Vaas closed his hand a bit more, digging the fingers into the flesh of Sams side.  
"M-my brother Phillip and my boyfriend Joe." She made eye contact with both, at the mention of their name.  
"Phillip, Joe and Sam, everyone! Welcome to my show!" A few whistles and cheers from the audience of pirates.  
This was already fun.  
"So this is how it's going down: We are playing the choosing game! Tell me, Sam, who do you want to live? Who is going to get a brand new bullet in their head? Hm? Who is it going to be, Hermana? One gets to live. You just need to help me decide which one." 

Both Men looked at her. A new hope glistening in their eyes. Sam trembled, looking at both of them frantically.  
"Tick, tock, Hermana. I don't have all day for this shit."  
"I.. I-i don't.. I.."  
As nice as it was to watch that struggle it was getting boring very fast.  
Vaas started clicking his tongue like a clock.  
Nearly at the same time, both guys started to whisper.  
"Sweety, i love you so much."  
"Sam.. Please." Her brother was obviously losing hope, as her eyes stayed way longer on the other man. 

"Jon." The voice of his player didn't even shake. Vaas could see how Phillips eyes broke, the shoulders slouching down, as the metaphorical knife dug itself into his chest. All while Jons entire body and posture was rising with relief.  
"I want my boyfriend to liv-"  
BANG.  
After painting the floor behind him with brain mush, lover boy fell over.  
The bitch screamed and tried to fight herself free, screaming 'Jon' over and over. Her little brother just stared up at them. His eyes were shocked, but empty.  
"What the fuck did i just talk about? WHAT THE FUCK. DID I. JUST. FUCKING. TALK ABOUT?!"  
Vaas shoved, nearly even threw, his captive over the stages edge, were she was cached by his men.  
"I am so FUCKING DISAPPOINTED SAM!"  
They groped at her and silenced her yelling with a gag of bandages, while she squirmed in their arms. More than touch was not gonna happen.  
She was getting sold, so they better did no damage.

The Pirate Lord went to face the young man, stepped next to him and crouched down to eye level.  
"You see what i mean, hermano? This FUCKING BITCH JUST CHOSE SOME PIECE OF DICK OVER HER OWN FUCKING BROTHER!"  
His left arm found a place around the back and on the bound shoulders, padding them in a soothing manner, while his pistol pointed at the squriming bitch.  
"I know what you're feeling right now, hermano. You are angry. You wanna see that bitch bleed, don't you?"  
The emptiness faded and Vaas could see the deep despair, the void filling with confusion and anger, mostly disgust and hurt. This was oh, too familiar.  
"I would love to help you with that, but unfortunately i can't. That perra is gonna bring a good price."  
Vaas could watch as Sams eyes grew wider with his words.  
Did she really not catch on to that by now?  
"The good thing, I know my men. And a few of them have already set their eyes on that traitorous bitch. Maybe they will even cash together and share a bit? I know those guys are into the not behaving kind. You know? Gotta tame them down yourself." A bunch of his men were eyeing the woman now. She was held, like a display, by three of his men.  
Phillip just stared at the scene. The pool of blood, forming around them, soaked his pants.  
"I am a man of my word, hermano." He pulled the man up and shoved him to another pirate.  
"If someone would like to play with our new toy over here, go for it! Just make the bitch watch. I got shit to do!"  
Fucking sisters.  
With sam being back in her cage and dear little Phillip placed in the trusty hands of his men, Vaas could finally get his other shit done. 

While walking past the cages, he could feel the eyes of all the captives that watched.  
The women of yesterday's new arrivals, were staring in pure shock and fear, while the screams of poor Phillip filled the air.  
The men were held in a outpost closest to the main compound. They would bring less money and the cages in the compound were getting full. His spotter on the main land did some great work lately.  
The only problem with that was, he had a lot more shit to do.  
When Vaas finally stumbled, drunk and high into bed this night, he was actually spent and he did not even manage to do everything on his fucking todo list.

God fucking damn it.  
Fuck the fucking smooth exit! What the fucking hell was this shit?  
It had now already been 3 days and wouldn't you know it?  
He had no fucking clue where the everloving FUCK she was!  
His scouts had no fucking luck either.  
They LOST her the morning after his second date!  
Disappeared. Poof. GONE.  
Why did he even pay these idiots?  
Vaas already went to Bad Town himself, asking the repair guy.  
That fucker just, unwillingly, told him she wasn't gonna be around Bad Town for a while.  
He also had no clue where exactly she was currently.  
Fucking great.

On top of all that, Jason had been active again.  
The outpost furthest to the west of the island was lost to the Rakyat.  
Vaas was pissed and he had Hoyt in his neck, who was even more pissed.  
Why wasn't Bordy already dead?  
Hadn't he told Vaas to take care of it?  
Why was he still messing with the product?  
Just fucking kill him already, Vaas!  
Killing him.  
That WAS the problem.  
He set him on fire.  
He drowned him.  
He shot him in the chest.  
He stabbed him.  
How was Jason not dead jet?  
Killing.  
Something he was so FUCKING good at and enjoyed so goddamn much!  
And yet he failed at it.  
Over.  
And over.  
And over. 

10.000$  
Vaas had announced that bounty for whoever killed Jason Brody this morning, after he heard of the fallen outpost. As much as he would love to pull the trigger himself, right now he just wanted to finally get rid of Jason.  
A very small part inside the Pirate Lord felt bad for him. Citra manipulated this man, to become like the Ex-Rakyat warrior. She tried turning him into a new version of Vaas. The version she wanted from the beginning.  
Fucking Bitch.  
They were so fucked.  
He should go after Jason with way more force and personally, but he also had to do his job. 

Right now, he did neither.  
Right now, he was trying to figure out, where his Nena was. How was he supposed to focus on Jason or his work, when his brain fucked him over? The first night was peaceful, dreamless sleep. As soon as he woke up though, it started again.  
Every moment he tried to rest, she was in his mind.  
It made it really hard to focus on things.  
Things she said were on repeat in his ears.  
It was just like before and Vaas fucking hated it!  
The only places he knew, he could look for her, were here in bad town, the beach and the mansion. The beach sounded unlikely. 

So his next stop, was at the mansion. This was actually also part of his todo list.  
During his short stay in Bad Town, Vaas got informed, the Doc. had organised himself some sort of apprentice. Chances were, it was his reina. Earnhardt did tell him, she gathered herbs for him.  
Anyway, Hoyt wanted detailed information about that person.  
'Can't have one of those Savages mess with it!'  
Knowing that man, he was going to send someone to check it throughout, regardless if Vaas already did it.  
That could fuck up a lot if things. It could come out in the open that he lost a Captive, if she couldn't shut her mouth about it 3 Captives, in the past without noticing it.  
Sure it was chip in his pride, but he could take it.  
The Repair guy did a good job and his nena was well, his nena. As long as the third did no fucking bullshit to mess with him, he could accept it, so his Reina was happy.  
BUT.  
That information could cause Hoyt to just say 'fuck it' and sell her immediately. After all, it was lost money and that man was not a fan of lost money.  
If that happened, Vaas had to be fast. This was his queen and he was not losing her now!  
Sure it wouldn’t give him the satisfaction he wanted, but before someone else would get her, he was gladly going to pay any price to call her his own. 

Earnhardt was working in the greenhouse as usual. Once he noticed the Pirate Lord, he put down his work.  
"My new help? Ah, yes. You missed her by a few minutes. She is out gathering herbs."  
Oh for fucks sake.  
"It will take a while, until there is a noticeable difference, of course. Still, i am optimistic."  
So it was Liz. Fucking great.  
It seemed like Doc Earnhardt had a prepared list of information. Chosen carefully and probably rehearsed a few times.  
'Lisa Kaffkind  
23  
Short brown hair, blue eyes.  
Knowledge of the flora and fauna of the Northern island and experience in gathering utensils for 2 years.'  
Those were details, but also all things he already knew. Except the 23 Part. That was new and interesting.

"When is she going to be back?"  
"A few hours." There was a short hesitation in the Doctor's tone. "Would you like to leave something like a message? A note?" The old man pointed towards a piece of paper on the table.  
That was a not a bad idea.  
So while the doctor went and made him something nice for later, Vaas sat down and quickly wrote a little letter.  
Or at least that's what he thought. 

It took a few attempts. Scratched out words and sentences all around.  
What exactly did he wanted to say?  
Was it just him or did that sentence made no sense?  
Did this make him sound stupid?  
Ah fuck, he wrote that in spanish! Did she even speak it?  
Fuck!  
3 crumbled versions on the floor later, he was finished and folded the Letter.

Vaas would never admit it, but his handwriting was not the best. Some might even call it chicken scratch. Rushed and messy.  
"Tomorrow, afternoon.  
I NEED to see you.  
Alone.  
Don't make me wait."  
Under the text was a quick, messy sketch of the eastern coast of his island. The small island south of his compound had an X on its northern end.  
The letter was signed with the Eye.  
Happy and content with his work and a little bag of smokable happiness in his pocket, Vaas left. 

During his next few points of the todo list, the world seemed a lot better again.  
She better didn't complain about the location.  
Last time, she chose time and place, now it was his turn.  
The small island was close enough to the compound, so he could definitely make it, even if something came up tomorrow. Also Vaas wanted to stay in range of the radio tower in his home. This time he wouldn't be cut of, like last time.  
If anything happened, he would know. The spot he chose was a good point to keep an eye out on his Fortress and his kingdom.  
Also on the eastern side, was a nice little cliff. Sundown would surely look great through the trees from there. He prefered the lit up treelush with orange light, over the actual sun going down at the horizont.  
That's what women liked right?  
This was some romantic shit he planned here! Small beach and cliff for them, some alone time, sundown in their back, so no blinding. 

Yes, she did make it clear, she wasn't ready to be in his home base, but this was not IN it.  
Just a lot closer.  
Also things were surely going to kick into another gear now.

After all, the third date was said to be a special threshold and he honestly couldn't wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Giant thanks for my friend over the pond for the amazing help with certain points of this chapter!   
> You rock!  
> :)  
> Also thanks to everyone who actually reads this.   
> I thought this fandom was dead tbh.   
> I hope you all stay healthy and have an awesome day!


	15. X marks the spot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is currently close to 2am, i am super tired, but i really wanted to finish this chapter.  
> I hope you all enjoy. :)

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuuhuhuuck. FUCK!"  
Birds flew out of the trees, deers raised their heads and little critters hid in the lush, as Liz sprinted through the jungle, cursing a storm.  
Her lungs burned and her legs ached while she jumped over dead trees, snakes, anthills and random rocks.  
Didn't she already realize, she wasn't made for long sprints?  
Well right now, that wasn't the problem. 

About 15 minutes earlier, she had come back to the mansion.  
Alec had told her how Vaas left a letter for her. While reading it, with a few struggles, her eyes grew wide. Aside from the, honestly ominous sounding and horrible written, message, there was a problem with the time and place.  
You had to see, the Mansion was basically on the west coast of the Northern Rook Island. The meeting point was over in the east. So on the opposite side of it. Ignoring the fact of how close this place was to the compound, she had a way bigger problem. 

Originally, Liz wanted to be back at the mansion way sooner, but a little run in with a herd of cassovary had her sleep in a tree last night.  
What did that mean?  
Well, that meant: It was already 'tomorrow' and on top of that, past lunchtime.  
Afternoon so to speak.  
"Oh fuck."  
Oh fuck, indeed.  
So instead of taking a lesson in "this plant will kill you, if you eat it raw, but in a salve it will save your ass", Liz was running through the Jungle. 

She wasn’t really sure, if she anticipated this unprepared meetup. Thanks to half her support system and common sense coming back, she questioned her decision. Watching that captive transport, made a good reminder for just what kind of person she had agreed to date, but Liz also wasn't going to back down without giving it an honest shot. She made a deal after all.  
Also:  
A: This letter sounded urgent. The ‘NOW’ in all caps. Who did that, if it wasn’t important?!  
B: She was a bit curious on how all of this would turn out. His behavior in some moments at the beach was kind of intriguing. She even felt, pretty good in some moments.  
But most importantly C: Liz may have control over the speed of their dating progress, thanks to their deal, but for the love of god! She was not going to no show Vaas fucking Montenegro, on something he probably counted as a Date! She wasn't fucking suicidal!  
Wait, was this going to count as a date? It would be their first! Was she seriously running to get on time to her first date?  
Great! This made everything even worse!  
She was unprepared for something this important!  
Why couldn't this narcissistic Asshole give her, like, a two days notice or something?! Even if she kept running, it would still take a good while to get there and that was without the swimming she had to do!  
Fuck! She was going to be late!  
Fuck, fuck, fuck!  
Usually she would just feel bad, but he specifically mentioned it on the note.  
This was a nightmare! 

Liz ignored everything on her way to the shore, animals, locals, she even rushed past a patrol of 2 pirates, who, luckily, didn't get a chance to react.  
After a few more minutes of fast jogging and sprinting, the beach finally came into view.  
Usually, Liz would wait, take of her backpack and try to swim while holding it up. Thanks to her panik though, she left it at the mansion. Right now Liz was armed with only machete and her knife. Backpack and Bow sat neatly in the greenhouse.  
The ocean water was warm from the sun. The further she got in, the colder it got.  
Luckily, no sharks this time. Usually Liz had to watch out for them.  
As soon as she was on the small island, her sprint continued.  
Where to exactly did she need to go? She knew this little patch of island wasn’t very big.  
While running, she took out the, now soggy, note.  
Looking down on it, there was the X on the northern side, so she should be pretty clo-  
Her foot stepped into nothingness.  
With a surprised noise, Liz fell down a slope. Out of instinct, she tried shielding her head, as she fell and rolled down onto the small beach. Hitting the floor for the first time, all the air got knocked from her body. Once she stopped on her side, there were some sticks and wood poking her. She let out a long groan and kept her eyes closed for a moment.  
A noise caught her attention. 

Laughter.  
Looking up, Vaas stood in a speedboat at the beach and laughed. A full on, uncontrolled belly laugh. It went so far, that he had to crouch down and hold on to the side of the boat with one hand, while holding his forehead with the other one.  
Liz could feel her face burn up, as she sat up on her knees, with a groan. Great, now everything else hurt too.  
Well that was embarrassing, but still no reason for him to laugh THIS hard..  
Her breathing was heavy and the pain in her sides was amplified from falling. Getting somewhat up didn't make it any better.  
Their eyes met and the pirate lord, still giggling, pointed under her. "It's good to see you can follow instructions, nena, but i didn't think you would go THIS far." It was followed by a nod. "I do appreciate that, though."  
"What are you…" It was then, she looked down, towards where he pointed.  
Honestly, she couldn't any different as to start laughing herself.  
Directly under her, was a big X made from planks and sticks. Ok now it was somewhat justified do laugh. This was pretty funny. Did he mark their meeting point? Liz just followed the hand drawn map of a Pirate and fell face first into the literal X which marked the spot. It was not only pretty funny, this was downright hilarious!  
Her laughter turned into coughing pretty fast. God her lungs still burned.  
Liz laid down again, rolling on her back and closing her eyes, to catch her breath. One arm was flung over her eyes. 

She could hear the thud of boots, when Vaas jumped out of the boat and started walking towards her.  
It was something she really hoped, Vaas wouldn't notice, but her body tensed up, once she could feel his shadow cast over and the stepps stopping next to her.  
From the noises, she could tell, he crouched down.  
"Nena? Are you hurt?"  
Was that genuine concern, she heard in that voice?  
Liz moved her arm just a little bit, to make eye contact. Oh wow! He actually looked worried! Also it was a bit terrifying, how he crouched and loomed over her. It brought up some memories from the beach. The unpleasant parts. It also didn't help, that she could see the barrel of the assault rifle on his back, poking out from behind his shoulder. Not to mention the sprinkles of blood on his top and arms.  
Between breaths, Liz managed to get an answer out.  
"Just.. need to catch... my breath… sorry for… being Late. I just.. ran across.. The entire island.. Holy shit.. My legs are going to hurt tomorrow." The concern shifted into a smile.  
"Across my entire island, hm? It is very nice of you, to do this for me, Nena. Don't worry. You are not late. I just came here myself. Just in time to see an angel fall from the sky." Honestly, she didn't know what the chuckle was about. Her falling down that slope, his own joke or the situational comedy.  
"Oh Ha, ha." To be fair, she would have laughed as well, but Vaas didn't have to know that.  
The way she could feel, how those eyes wandered all over her body was giving her spine chills. She just had to keep telling herself 'He just wants to make sure, i am not hurt.' and things like 'he doesn't mean any harm, remember?' to keep her calm.  
"You know, nena, this is a very good look for you. Laying down, panting, exhausted, out of breath."  
The tone of his voice was a purr.  
What was he getting at? That smug little smile looking down on her couldn't be good.  
He wasn't talking about..?  
No. He wouldn't.  
That would be way too early.  
Right?  
Or would he?  
This was Vaas they were talking about here after all.  
Why did he poke his tongue out like that?  
"Uh uhm.. I" Liz could feel her face heat up again.  
The smile grew into a grin.  
"There it is!" Another light giggle. "Red really looks so fucking good on you, nena."  
Liz just watched baffled, as he got up and walked back to the direction of the RHIB.  
What was that? 

It took her another minute, to calm her breath and sit back up.  
Vaas was already back and offered a hand.  
It took a perplexed moment, of her staring at it, till she carefully accepted. Not taking this offer, would just be rude and piss him off.  
The tug ended up being a bit to harsh. Not only getting her up, but it also caused Liz to nearly stumble right into Vaas chest.  
From the little frown, she catched on his face, that would have been his initial goal.  
They stood there a bit in awkward silence, hand in hand.  
Liz just watched, how the man before her, held her hand gently, watching it with a small happy smile and stroking it with his thumb.  
To be honest, it was kind of cute? He looked so proud to have it. 

No! Nope! This guy killed many, many people with his hands! Not cute! Stop it brain!  
But still, even those hands could be gentle..  
God fucking.. Shut it!  
You saw him shoot someone a few days ago! 

Another, little bit gentler, tug on her hand brought Liz back. Being, more or less, 'gently dragged' by her hand, she followed Vaas over to the treeline. Her legs were a bit wobbly from running so much.  
"Are you hungry, nena? I have to admit, i am a bit late as well, you know?" There was some little annoyance hidden inside the happy voice of her date.  
Liz would lie, if she said, she wasn't amazed by the fact that Vaas had seemingly pulled out an actual picture book picnic basket from the speedboat, which was now dangling in his other hand.  
Where did he get that from? This wasn't exactly an item you would expect on a murder island.  
You know what? Liz actually didn't wanted to know. The answer was probably something, she would rather ignore.  
In theory, food sounded good, she hadn't even had lunch yet. All in all, the idea of a Picnic as a first date was really sweet and thoughtful. They were outside, alone and on somewhat neutral ground. Very nice. Or more it would be, if there wouldn't be her big problem with eating food, from a sadistic psychopath. Vaas knew her feelings about that, right? Did she forget to mention that in her video message?  
She could feel his hand tense up a bit. Oh right! Someone didn't like unanswered questions!  
"A little bit. You?" The only answer she got, was a little nod and a "That is good."

Vaas lead them up the slope and into the little patch of jungle. Liz had to give a small tug on the hand, just to slow him down enough, for her to catch up. Jeez, she just ran across the entire piece of dirt they called home! Couldn’t he at least slow down a bit? For a second, that earned her an annoyed look, but as soon as she was next to him and gave a little smile, the message seemed received. There was no need to drag her along, if she was going to walk with him anyway.  
After a short walk, with little sideward glances of both parties, Vaas stopped abruptly and turned to face her.  
"You are going to wait here." The tone was semi harsh as he let go of her hand and pointed down. Coming out of nowhere, it was concerning.  
"Is everything ok?"  
"Just do it." She probably should listen, given the growl in his voice. The only problem was, what if there was some form of danger? Liz wasn't really a close combat person and she forgot her bow and arrows. Also Vaas was more armed than at the beach. Did he expect trouble here?  
“Fine, but at least tell me what’s wrong!” Liz regretted her sassy tone, the second she finished. Vaas entire posture changed to his signature pissed stance, still his voice was only a bit louder and more hissed through the teeth than the usual yelling.  
“Nothing is fucking wrong! I just need to prepare some Shit! I didn't get to fucking do it earlier! This has to be fucking perfect and all i am asking from YOU is to stay right. the fuck. WHERE. YOU. ARE!"  
He just wanted to prepare their date? That was honestly very sweet! With an apologetic smile, Liz lifted her arms in a defensive manner. "I just wanted to make sure. Dangerous place and all. I will just sit down over there and you do you. My legs can use a break anyway." Liz pointed at a fallen over tree and started walking towards it.  
"Don’t you fucking dare disappear on me again, Nena!” It first sounded like a threat. Once she sat down and had eye contact back though, the threat turned, aside from the tone and posture, into more of a beg. There was actual worry and a small glimpse of fear hidden in these green eyes. A big contrast, to the posture and tone.  
It made sense. The last time he had to take care of something while on a 'date' led by him, Liz had disappeared into thin air. This time she wasn't even chained up in a locked room.  
"I won't disappear on you today. Promise." Her voice was soft. "Except, of course, if i have to, but i don't think that's gonna happen."  
The promise caused a smile in front of her and Vaas disappeared into the lush. 

About 15 minutes later, Liz had made herself a spear from a long stick. Using her knife, she whittled the bark in a pattern with swirls. Some parts looking as if the bark was a ribbon bound around it, others with dots of missing bark. It was honestly more a glorified walking stick than a functional spear, but she was bored and it looked pretty. Florians grandfather had teached her and him how to do this. He had also shown them how to braid baskets, just like the one Vaas had disappeared with. That old man had been one of the reasons for her brother to become a carpenter. 

Just as she finished the last touch, a weird feeling crept up her back. Something was wrong. Looking up and around, she nearly jumped. Vaas was leaning to a tree, maybe 4 meters away, staring at her with this biting his tongue smile. When did he come back? Liz may have been a bit focused on her doing, but she never really let her guard down! How did he get this close without her noticing? Why didn't he say something? What was with that creepy smile?!  
"Uhm.. Hi?" Liz cleaned her knife on her pant leg and sheathed it. The stick was pushed into the ground by the spear end as she got up. No answer from the man staring at her.  
".. Are you.. Done?" The silence made her nervous. "I am just waiting for you, nena." It was a bit weird. Wasn’t he usually so impatient? Why didn’t he say something?  
"Oh! Well.. Then let's go?"  
Without another word, Vaas turned around, leading the way. This seemed very odd.  
After about a minute of silent walking, Vaas came to a standstill again. She could hear a slightly annoyed sigh. He seemed to hesitate about something. Pondering about it until, he turned around and held his red bandana in front of him. "May i?" His other hand pointed at his eyes.

The air turned uncomfortable. Liz did not know what to do with this request. Why blindfold her? She already knew it was going to be a picnic. Or did he prepare something else?  
Sure Liz wanted to build trust, but this literally required her to trust Vaas blind.  
On the other hand, he at least asked before anything.  
That kind of behavior should be rewarded sure, but her last experience with being blindfolded by a pirate wasn't the best. Also this was still Vaas! Aka the worst person around!  
But she also couldn't always say no to everything..  
"How far do we need to go?" She tried not to sound declining right away.  
"Just a few steps."  
"Ok.. Last time i got blindfolded didn’t work out so well..Can i use my hands instead?"  
Vaas looked down to the bandana, thought for a moment and returned to eye contact.  
"Well i don’t want you to peek. Mine?"  
Liz narrowed her eyes and made a thinking “hmmm”- noise.  
If she said yes, it was a compromise, but also it would allow Vaas to do it in the future.  
Liz bit her lips and closed her eyes for a moment. What could go wrong, right? Vaas really wanted to somehow impress her and to gain her trust. Doing some bullshit that hurt her now wouldn't help him in the slightest and he knew that. This man wasn't stupid.  
"Ok fine. We have got to start somewhere, i guess. Just don't let me walk into something ok? Or like.. off a cliff."  
Vaas crossed his arms with a scoff. "As if I would ever do that!" A short silence, then both had to stifle a laugh. Of course he fucking would! Who was he trying to fool here?  
“You already did that, didn’t you?” It was more a joke question. Liz didn’t really expect an answer, but got one anyway.  
“Yes!” Vaas nodded with a big grin. “You should have seen it! It was fucking hilarious! That fucker just walked right off! I didn’t even have to kick the fucking rock his leg was tied to!” How could someone be this happy about this?  
“Yeah.. that is.. super reassuring! You just know what to say, to make someone feel safe, hu?” Her voice just dripped of sarcasm. This was funny. This entire situation. Terrifying sure, but in a ridiculous way. She was really going to do this.  
Vaas stepped behind her.  
“Well, of course i am not going to fucking do that with you, Nena! That wouldn’t be very nice, no? Got to treat mi lady right, no?”  
Vaas right hand, carefully, covered her eyes, while the other took her hand and held it on her hip. It was probably to help guide her walking. Technically not ok, given their deal, but on the other hand, he didn’t really touch her. He had her hand between his and her hip. Smart.  
“Well lucky me, i guess.” It was a bit scary, not going to lie. Everything was dark, so she concentrated on her other senses.  
She could smell the mixture of Iron, dirt, sweat, gunpowder and weed on his hand. Not the nicest combination of smells, but there was worse. In a rythmic pattern, she could feel the breath on her head and neck. Not only that, but she could actually feel the presence behind her. Her ears didn't give much away, aside from the sound of breath and the jungle. God what did she just agree to?

Walking was awkward. Really, really awkward.  
Vaas was pretty close behind her, whispering little directions in her ear. At the same time Liz tried very hard not to trip or lose balance. While she herself made little steps, trying to figure out her surroundings, her lead went for more normal steps, causing them to bump into one another nearly every time. From the little curses next to her ear, it seemed not on purpose and annoying for him. He probably expected her to be more sure about herself with his directions.  
Liz couldn't help but laugh a bit. It had been 2 minutes and they hadn’t really made any progress.  
"God, we really suck at this, don’t we?" To her delight, the statement caused a chuckle next to her ear. "This is way harder, when you actually give a fuck about it." He probably referred to her arms.  
Usually the pirates just grabbed the arms of a captive and either twisted them behind their backs or they were already bound there and shoved them around. Liz could imagine it was easier to navigate someone like that. Right now, she held onto his right forearm for additional balance. 

The blindfold would have been a LOT easier. Why didn’t she just say yes to that? He could have just taken both her hands and carefully lead the way.  
But no! They had to make it more complicated, because Liz wasn’t trusting him enough and Vaas didn’t wanted her to be able to peek or give up the upper hand in the situation! Now they may be aware of their mistake, but both were also just too prideful to admit defeat. Vaas seemed to be getting less annoyed and more amused, ever since Liz started laughing about this. It was probably her emphasis on the ‘We’ part. She didn’t put the fault on just him. They both sucked at this together!  
The silliness did take away a lot of her fear and discomfort.  
Like one time, right after when she stumbled.  
“Careful, root.”  
“Oh!..you don’t say!”  
After what felt like 5 more minutes of chaotic stumbling, they stopped.  
"This took way longer than it should have."  
“Well, i survived. So, I count this as a win!” That seemed to be the wrong answer, giving the huff hitting her shoulder.  
“That was a joke.” A clarification, just in case.  
The hand on her eyes slowly left with a little “Tada!”  
It was pretty bright and blinding for the first few seconds, but once she could see clearly, the sight was stunning. 

The small island ended it a clean cut cliff. The sky was bright, the ocean deep and for miles on end nothing but the mesmerizing waves. You could hear them crash with the stones, but it was still silent enough for conversations. A few meters from the cliff, sat the red/white checkered blanket. On it were containers with, what she guessed, food. Next to 2 plates were 2 normal glasses, a wine glass, a water bottle and a wine bottle. Between the plates, was a little vase with a white flower. The basked with, what looked like, bread poking out from it sat at the side, right next to a folded blanket.  
Around all of this, where multiple tealights in small holders made from glass.  
They weren't lit yet, it was still afternoon and bright outside, but Liz could already imagine how amazing that would look in the evening.  
"Wow. You really went all out with this, huh?" She was honestly baffeled and impressed, by this display.  
"So, you like it?" Vaas had taken both her hands from behind, as soon as she was able to see. Right now he was looking past her shoulder, observing her face from the side. He was honestly too close, with them nearly having contact at her back, but right now Liz was too stunned to really care. At least there was still a barrier of air between them.  
"I mean, yeah! This is amazing." 

Liz couldn’t help but smile with a slight blush on her face. Just like the dinner, this was carefully planned. This time even without the whole kidnap and chain up part!  
Someone had put some real effort into this. And all that for her?  
That someone might be a crazy lunatic, but maybe, just MAYBE, this whole situation was not to bad after all. The feeling she had gotten back on the rock at the beach, returned. This was oddly nice. It felt weirdly right.  
Maybe this could actually be a good first date. 

God she was so fucked, wasn’t she?.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally this was supposed to be the date, but the scenes felt good to write out and i kind of felt a natural chemestry build, so i hope that's not only me being tired.  
> A big thank you to my sis who helped me, by reinacting the awkward walking, so i have a easier time to write it out!  
> Again, also a big thanks to everyone who reads this.  
> :3  
> As always i really hope nothing turned to OOC.  
> I hope everyone has a great Day or Night!  
> See you all in the next one!


	16. Third or First?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wish you all a happy fathers day! 
> 
> I hope you all stay safe and healty. :)  
> Enjoy!

The gentle ocean breeze danced around the little island in the east. Carrying the clean smell of salt and the freshest of air. The sun shined it's brightest smile, not a cloud in sight. Yet, the temperature wasn't as hot and humid as usual. All in all days like these were just a moment of the tropical paradise of an island, that was advertised to naiv tourists.  
Liz knew, this was just a facade. This place would kill her, if she wasn't on guard and if it wasn't the island itself and its wildlife, its human resident would do the trick. If you could even call some of them humans anymore.  
Like the man next to her, watching her intensely, while she took everything in. It kind of sent a shiver down her spine and gave a feeling of uneasiness, but less than usual. There was no real reason to be so tense. Liz was safe. Vaas was not a danger to her. He made it pretty clear, multiple times even, but still she couldn't shake that feeling. As hilarious as their little stumbling stroll here was, in the back of her head the fight or flight wanted to strike constantly. Always with flight, obviously. 

Right now everything was peaceful and on Rook you had to cherish moments like these, both of them seemed to know that.  
They had sat down a few minutes ago and enjoyed the rare silence.  
Her legs were crossed and she leaned on her left hand, watching outward to the ocean. Next to her was the man in question. One leg stretched out, the other probt up, leaning on his right hand, which was on top of hers. Luckily his palm was on the ground, taking most of the weight of her hand.  
He really seemed to like having that contact. Ever since he helped her up, Vaas seemed to be set on holding her hand. What would he be like if they got further? Would he capitalize on everything that much? Maybe he did it, because it was the only really casual thing he could do, with the current state of their deal. 

Liz also used that moment to try and process everything.  
She was really here, sitting at a cliff, on a picnic blanket, at her first date with Vaas. A man that killed and tortured for fun. He was responsible for the deaths and horrible futures of many, many people, including her friends and would be for even more in the future.  
She saw him kill, multiple times even, during her little heists. It was terrifying every single time. Liz remembered how hard it was not to scream or cry in her hiding places, when she just couldn't force herself to look away.  
But right now, that didn't matter.  
Right now, she had to look past that or else she might not be able to do this. If she was tense the entire time neither of them would be able to enjoy this.  
Right now, she wasn't sitting with the Pirate Lord of Rook, who was a murderer, human trafficker and drug lord.  
Right now, she was sitting next to Vaas Montenegro. A man working in a… let's call it management position in a.. Logistics direktion? This was their first date, lovely prepared by him, to get to know one another better. 

Ok let's be serious.  
Who was she trying to fool here?  
Her tries of ignorance and being purposefully oblivious crumbled the second she could spot his gun in the corner of her eye.  
They both knew very well who and what he was. What way she thinking? How was even trying with this man anywhere close to a decent idea?  
On the other hand, at least 80% of the men on Rook were all Assholes and many of them would fall under the description of a monster. On top of that, she would spent the rest of her life on Rook anyway. So if she ever wanted to go and be in a relationship again, the possible partners to choose from were all either monsters, assholes or taken. This one was right up top the top of the worst, but at least he seemed to care for her opinion.  
So.. Yay? 

During their dinner, he did mention how she was in his head and didn't leave. How she stole something from him, probably meaning his heart.  
Which was an oddly romantic phrase, coming from a guy that probably cut out the heart of a person for fun once.  
Back when she gave first aid, everyone else would have probably left him to bleed out, but she did not.  
Was that why he was so fascinated by her? Because she actually gave a fuck about his life in that moment? Because she helped him? It was a something that goes without saying for Liz, to help someone in a situation like that. It was an act of plain and simple humanity and common sense, but except for her brothers, no one else here had the humanity to do that. He himself would have probably even laughed at anyone else in this situation. Maybe even let them suffer more, just for shits and giggles. 

Back on the rock, Vaas had told her so many things. Liz didn't have the time yet, to think about them all, but one topic seemed to stand out and the more she thought about it, the more it felt as if it was her safety net.  
Care.  
In all of the things he mentioned, there was something relating to it. It was just an idea, so she was not 100% sure on it.  
Maybe Vaas wanted to be cared about? Someone who was genuinely thinking about how he was doing, if he was ok and how he felt.  
You couldn't force that.  
Genuineness in act and emotion was something pure, something you can't fake or at least not believable.  
God that had to be frustrating for someone who can get anything with money, violence and force. That, weirdly, caused a good feeling. It is called Karma and she is a bitch! 

Honestly? It was messed up, sad and god damn it she felt kind of bad for him, as weird as that was. How could someone function without anyone giving a fuck about them? Liz would crash and crumble without her supporting team. Her brothers and Alec were everything to her.  
Also, it was such an innocent thought. Looking for someone that cares for you.  
Ok, it was pretty fucked up to use the word innocent in context with Vaas.  
Still, there seemed to be no malicious intent in this meeting. Otherwise he wouldn't have-  
"It is not very nice to ignore me, you know?"

Liz head snapped back to Vaas. He didn't exactly look happy. Mouth a fine line, eyes sharp. Great, good job Liz! You pissed him off right away!  
"I.. Uhm. I'm sorry. I kind of drifted off. It is just so peaceful right now. Also.. This" She gestured around them. "Couldn't really help it. It is such a calming atmosphere." Her apology seemed to fruit. The face didn't really change, but she could feel some tension lift from the hand on hers. 

"How have you been? You are really fucking hard to find, nena. You know that? Did you have some fun on my island? Mh? A good time, without me?"  
Aside from being rather silent, but already in a better mood, this had an odd sound to it. It was also a checkmate question. She could say 'yes', but that would be very insensitive and probably hurt his feelings, but a 'no' was just a straight up lie.  
"Uhm.. Well i have been ok. Alec asked me to help him out a bit more, so now i get to learn a few new things. Well, you probably already know that." She gave a small shrug. "It is exciting, to be honest and way more interesting than i thought! I mean, i know a lot about the plants on this island and where to find them, but BOY was i not aware of the shit you can do! And it's only been what? 2 days? Yesterday was a bit shitty, but aside from that, just the usual." A soft smile met her eyes. It carried a silent question.  
"I couldn't make it back to the mansion yesterday, so i literally just read you letter, before i came over. Fuck Cassowaries, man! Honestly!" An amused but also slightly confused Vaas chuckled at her, so Liz explained.  
"Mango trees might be pretty, but damn they are uncomfortable, when you have to sleep on them. I, i know stupid, somehow didn't see that around the field i usually get some special herbs from, was a herd of those blue, black death birds."  
Vaas chuckled a bit to hard at that, but let's be honest this seemed to fit pretty well into his humor. Liz had to join at the thought. Yeah it was dumb. These birds weren't small and easy to miss.  
"I don't know HOW, but i must have somehow slipped through the circle they always form around the babies. I only noticed them, when i suddenly had a baby next to me. I think you can imagine the rest."  
They shared a short laugh. 

"You could have just shot them. Kill a few and the rest will run." He made it sound as if that would have been the obvious thing to do.  
"Why? What would i do with multiple dead cassovary? I mean I can barely find a use for all parts of one. All that meat would go to waste. What if i hit the mother? The baby would die. Also, i already had the problem of those birds running off with my arrows. I don't exactly have many, you know?"  
Vaas didn't seem to expect her answer or at least it's content. He just stared at her in a somewhat confused but happy state. It took him half a minute to answer.  
"Why use arrows, when you could use a gun?"  
"Why use a loud bang, if you could be gone without further notice? I don't have a gun and honestly, i function pretty fine without one. Have and will." It actually took her some self control, not to sound sassy. That wouldn't be a smart choice with Vaas.  
Aside from a light frown and a nod, there was no answer this time. At least she didn't want to wait for one. Liz had had this discussion with J-J already. No she did not need a gun! All she would need it for was hunting and that worked just fine with her bow! ‘But Liz, self defense!’ Self defense her ASS! If she would own a gun, who knew how long it would take till she killed someone. And that was not going to happen! Over her dead body. 

"About your other question." Great segway.. Not stumbly at all.  
"I mean, being hard to find is kind of what i do. You pick up a few things after two years. And now that i know, i was being stalked, it is a lot easier to avoid those people." Ok just from his mimic, Vaas did NOT like that. As soon as she said that last sentence, the little smile faded completely. Was someone not happy, about his failure in second hand stalking? Ok, before he can say something about it and complain, change the topic again! She was not about to have a discussion about that! 

"How about you? How are you doing?"  
This let Vaas perk up again. If she pointed it in the right direction, this looked like a smile you had when something you hoped would happen, happened.  
"Good! Good.. I had a few good days, nena! How nice of you to ask." He really looked very happy about the question. "A bit stressful, sure. Got some nice new product." Great, was he going to tell her all the things she didn't wanted to know?  
"I also got rid of some useless pieces of shit. That is always so much fun. I hosted a little Game-Show! You should have seen it, it was brilliant!" Yeah, she doubted that.  
His tone shifted.  
"But, not all sunshine and rainbows. Some stupid FUCKS acting out of their fucking places! And, of course, I have to fucking deal with that shit!"  
Oh oh.. Liz could feel a storm coming.  
"A bitch bit of one of my mens ear, yesterday night! Not quite sure what to do with that one yet. Also, of course: Fucking Snow white started messing with my FUCKING SHIT AGAIN! This little BASTARD! I'LL RIP HIS FUCKING HEAD OF HIS SPINE AND PISS IN HIS NECK!! THIS PIECE OF SHIT! THIS FUCKING WANNABE WAR-"  
Liz, subconsciously, started to lean away. If he was getting mad, Vaas was sure to lash out at some point. There was noone and nothing around that could take the sheer force of angry destruction away from her. There was just her as a possible target and it was terrifying.  
Every nerve started to scream 'run' at her, but that wouldn't even work.  
Her hand hurt, as Vaas gentle holding turned more and more into a tight and hurting grip. Like a beast on the hunt hearing a twig snap, Vaas face shot to her 'fleeing' movements.  
Bewildered eyes met hers and just as if someone pulled a plug, Liz could see the building rage being drained, like water in a sink. It was an odd feeling.  
The grip on her hand, relaxed immediately and the breathing got calmer.  
"But that doesn't matter right now, no? It's like water under the bridge. I am going to chill. Right now this is more important. We are here to have fun, no?"  
Actually, this made her blush a bit while she stared at him in awe. So Vaas valued spending time with her, over his problems with Jason? Or at least enough to get down from a anger attack? Or was this all an impressive act of acting, to get her to appreciate him more?  
Had she really just witnessed this?  
It was oddly cute.  
No it wasn't.  
For fucks sake!  
This guy had so many red flags plastered all over him!  
Get a grip on yourself Liz! 

"You said you were hungry, right nena?" Vaas content little smile shined on her.  
Oh no. The food! She nearly forgot about that part! Shit! How was she going to get out of that? Letting him cover her eyes to walk a few meters? Sure that was at the border of her trust, but food? This could be anything! With all the stories she heard, could she really put Vaas above cannibalism? Would he do that to her? He did it to a head in the sand at least once! She wasn't a head in the sand, though. He was surely smart enough to know that would drive her away, right? On the other hand, Vaas was unpredictable and unhinged.  
Liz could feel her entire body tense up.  
It was not only her, who could feel it though.  
With a rather offended look on his face, Vaas put his hand of hers and held a container under her nose.  
There was no real need to hide her panic, they both knew it and they both weren't happy about it.  
Liz couldn't hold back a slight shiver in her hands, when she took the container.  
Vaas had taken the second one, but seemed to wait for her to open it first.  
Great.  
If he already knew that she was having a mild panic attack, she might as well just take a deep breath and release it in a calming manner, before she carefully opened the container. 

Grey.  
Liz was greeted by grey-ish, white strips of dried meat. Jerky. From the texture, color, smell and also the black feather, that was gently places on the side of it, this was very obviously some kind of bird meat. The colors and smell had a very cassowary tone. Those things followed her everywhere, didn't they? But the most important thing was, this was no human and that was for sure!  
A sigh of relief left her body, as she relaxed again. Vaas on the other hand, didn't look so happy. He was obviously annoyed by her behavior. In his hands was a container with the same composition of Vegetables from the dinner. Right, she had eaten some of that during her message. The feather was definitely meant as a sign to reassure her too.  
Vaas actually listened?  
"So? Not that bad hu? " His voice sounded more like a offended growl, instead of a question.  
Liz just smiled softly. "It looks good. Thank you, for the identification help. It really goes a long way for me."  
"Well, it better fucking does! See? I can listen and fucking adapt!” Yeah, he did not seem happy about her lack of trust.  
"And it is very appreciated! Seriously. I told you my reasons and fears and you actually listened. No offense, but i honestly didn't really expect that to happen. This is really nice. Thank you for taking my issues in consideration while planning this."  
Her appreciating tone seemed to at least please the ego next to her. Liz took a piece and held the container over to him.  
Vaas looked a lot happier as he grabbed one piece of the jerky from her container and ate it, with no further comment.  
Liz followed it up, by taking a small nibble herself.  
It was good. Pretty good, actually. Cassowary was usually very tough meat with a strong wild taste. The jerky was still a bit tough, but softer than she imagined. The taste was definitely cassowary, but whatever spice was used, complimented the wild taste and turned it into something actually enjoyable. Whoever made that, knew what they were doing.  
They sat a bit in chewing silence. No one really said anything and it turned into a very awkward silence. Weren't you supposed to take your time eating and talking between it, at a picnic? Well she didn't know what to say.. They both seemed to have no idea how to do this. Also jerky usually required you to chew a lot. 

Finally Vaas broke the silence, after the food was nearly empty.  
"I didn't take you for a whittling person." She watched how he undid the kork of the wine with a pop and poured himself a glas.  
"And i would have never guessed that you are a wine person."  
"Oh really? What did milady expect from me then?" She got an amused side eye while he took a sip. Liz thought for a second. "Hmm..I worked in a bar once or twice. Let's see. You don't really have this beer drinker aura.. I would have guessed something strong. Whiskey, Schnapps something that hits hard and fast. Buuut here we are. The classy Red wine. Good to know." They both smiled at each other for a second.  
"If i wanna get drunk, i don't drink wine. You are right about that. I won't say no to some whiskey for a fun time." Interesting.  
"So. Time to get this started. I want to know more, nena. That's what all this shit is for, isn't it? Figuring out more stuff about each other, no? Isn't that what you said? Come on, tell me something."  
Vaas looked like a sponge. Ready to absorb any information. Which was good, because Liz wanted to know more about Vaas as well. If this was going to happen, she needed to see his different layers of personality.  
Maybe there was something in there she could like. He was unstable, but also a very charismatic guy. God, if her parents could hear her think like this about a sadistic lunatic.

"I have a different idea. Let's play a game." Vaas just raised an eyebrow when Liz turned her sitting position to face him.  
"Back at home, whenever we had a new person at a get together of our friend group, we played a little game, we liked to call 'Raten gefragter Antworten' or 'guessing asked answers'.. it sounds a lot weirder in English. Anyway, the game goes as follows: As an example, I ask you a question about yourself. You give me an answer and then you have to guess, what my answer would be. After that we switch. Everyone gets one pass on a question, if it is to personal or you just don't want to answer it. Following the same logic, passed questions can't be asked again."  
In the back of her head, the thought of playing it with the others, back home in the kitchen of Florians parents, brought some very melancholic thoughts. They had a lot of fun with that. At one point it just turned into answering with the most bullshit thing you could come up with. 

Vaas seemed to think for a moment, before he nodded. "Fine, i'll start. Favorite position to fuck."  
Liz could feel her chin hitting the ground while she starred at Vaas with a shocked expression and a high red face. Did he seriously just start with THAT?!  
Her burning face must have looked really funny, because he started giggling like a child, with that tongue biting smile.  
"What? I want to know! Unpack some shit, nena!"  
It took her about as long to get some words out, as it took him to take out and lit a cigar and take a looong drag from it and exhale the smoke through his nose. 

With slumped shoulders, she looked at him, at a loss. "You.. You go right for the throat, hu?"  
Vaas just shrugged at her with that shit eating grin of his. "I didn't make the rules." Well, he was right about that.  
".. You are really making me use my pass right away. Normally one starts with something easy.. Like favorite color or animal or stuff like that, but fine.." She sighed. Vaas on the other hand seemed to bloom in anticipation.  
"I pass this question."  
The disappointed deflation next to her, would have been kind of cute and funny, if she wouldn't just have lost her one pass on the first question. 

"My turn! And because I start nice and gentle: Early bird or morning grouch?"  
He seemed to think shortly. "Depends on the night." "Let's say, good evening to normal day, no hangovers or otherwise?"  
"Early. You've got to get up, to get shit done." Look at that, she would have guessed him to be a annoyed bundle of nerves before his first coffee or whatever.  
"You.." Vaas narrowed his eyes and looked her up and down once. "get up early. There is no way, you would have made it this long otherwise."  
Liz nodded. "That is correct. I do wake up as soon as the sun rises. Getting out of bed on the other hand.. You know? It's comfy, the world is a mess and you just wanna get a break? Once i am out and up, everything is fine, but there are days when you just wanna snuggle up and stay in there. But yes. Once out of bed, i am in a good mood, usually."  
From the triumphing grin, Vaas seemed happy to have guessed right. 

"That is good. Now.. " For a second second Liz got really uncomfortable. Her pass was gone, it was her game, she made the rules and he was surely going to come at her with a inappropriate and uncomfortable question again. Vaas seemed ready to start a sentence, but looked as if he changed what he wanted to say the last second.  
"Let's play it your way. Favorite color?"  
The stone falling from her heart was such a relief. He was either very good in playing her or he actually gave a damn about her comfort. Still a weird thought. It was also a very, very, VERY easy question. Both for her and for the guess.  
"I like green.” She had never seen someone exhale cigarette or cigar smoke while letting out a long whistle. The eye contact Vaas made, was pretty intense.  
“You know.. like trees.. and… um.”  
“And?” He leaned in more and brought his eyes on level with hers with a piercing intent. She literally couldn't look away.  
Guess what Vaas? She knew your eyes were also green. No need to turn this into a staring contest.  
This was getting uncomfortable.  
“Aaaaand." Liz started to tap her finger on her lips and gave a very hard thinking expression. Throwing in some silliness to break the tension. “Your favorite color…” She wasn't a good actor and it showed. Liz couldn't keep a straight face during her act, her voice dripping with sarcasm.  
"Hmmmmmm.. What could that be? Oh no! I have no idea?" She gestured to his top. "Oh, just WHAT could it BE?!” She threw her arms in the air. “How would i EVER be able to guess THAT?"  
Vaas didn't keep a straight face either. He was chuckling like a champ, retreating to his upright position. The performance ended by her leaning over a bit in his direction, with a fake stupid expression and barely contained laughter. "Is it Blue?"  
Vaas Face became stone hard neutral.  
"Yes."  
Silence.  
"Wait. Really?"  
"No! Of course it's fucking RED!"  
They looked into each others eyes for a second, until both started laughing.  
It was weird. This was actually nice. They had fun and it did indeed feel a bit, like back home. For a second, she felt as if they were sitting at the table in flos parents house.  
The laughing stopped, as soon as she felt a hand holding her chin. Vaas was mere centimeters from her face as he purred. “Though i have to admit: Blue is starting to grow on me, Nena~.” The pointer finger made one soft stroke along her jawline, before the hand let go of her face and he retreated to take another sip from the wine glass. 

It was Liz turn again and she honestly was contemplating what to ask. "Ok, how about.."  
Vaas did jump on her 'let's take it easy for now' - way, it seemed, so it would be right to keep it light, but interesting.  
"Favorite non alcoholic drink?"  
"Hm.." He seemed to really need to think about that one. "Mostly water, but i do like myself a fresh mango juice every now and then."  
"Makes sense. The Mangos here taste a lot better than the ones you could by back where I'm from. Just pressing it has to be a pain. They are so sweet. Everything must get sticky. "  
Vaas let out a amused huff. "There is a simple trick for it. Have someone else do it."  
Liz raised an eyebrow.  
"Hey! I am paying these fucks! Juan knows better than to fucking question my orders to the kitchen!"  
It sounded like Juan was one of the designated cooks.  
"Way more important. Juice with or without pulp?"  
"Oh no, no, no. You don't get two questions back to back! I haven't even guessed your answer yet!"  
"Wha-? That's not an extra question! It's just for specification! You can’t talk about fruit juice without mentioning pulp or no pulp!"  
Liz was, surprisingly, the first to get louder and more aggressive. Where they really going to argue about this now? They both had started to get louder.  
"Oh! So you now make up new rules?"  
"No! Questions for specifications are ok! I never said, you can't do them!"  
"Questions for Specification eh? Well i have some of those too! There are a lot of nice things i would love to know the specifics. You better not come up with some new pass rules now!"  
"Well i might have to, if you come at me again with highly private shit, that is inappropriate for a fucking FIRST date!" 

Vaas just looked at her, annoyed and confused for a second.  
"Third."  
"What?"  
"This is the third date."  
Now it was her time to be confused.  
"What? When? Wait.. Did you go on two without me? Because that is not how that works.."  
"The fucking beach and dinner?"  
Liz eyes went big. "Wait. Waiwaiwaiwaiwait. You are counting those?! One was just a meeting to talk about this entire thing and the other was literally just a kidnapping situation!"  
"Just? JUST?! I PUT A LOT OF FUCKING WORK INTO THAT!"  
She actually winced at that. Liz could see the outlines of veins at this throat. This was one angry man. She really had to remember who she was talking to. Wait. Why did they even fight like this? This was ridiculous! 

"... Ok fine. Compromise?" It had worked pretty well last time.  
"Oh? What is it going to be now, hm? Nena?" Vaas still seemed at the edge of an explosion.  
"just hear me out ok?" She tried to sound calming. "Let's both just calm down. I don't know why i started to get so loud. Sorry. I guess pulp.. is kind of a trigger for me?" After all, she had started with the yelling.  
"I already told you, why i left the dinner early and i did tell you at the beach, that our meeting was not a date." She had screamed that to his face after all.  
"If you still want to let them be counted, that is ok. Let's just say that this here" Liz gestured around them. "Is neither the third, nor our first date. How about we call it our third attempt, to an actual first date? Does that sound good? Because let's be honest.. The dinner didn't even last for 10 minutes and on the beach we just yelled at each other and didn't talk for 4 hours straight… If you ask me.. Not ideal for a first date in my opinion." She just heard a angry huff from the man. 

Vaas thought for a moment. "A third first date? That sounds fucking ridiculous."  
Liz went to face the ocean a bit more, still looking at him and carefully held her hand out as a peace offering.  
"I think it's a bit unique. I never had three first dates. Maybe three times the charm? Every other time i had just one first date with someone, the entire dating or 'together together' relationship crashed in shards and broken dreams.. Why not break the mold a bit? Stop doing the same thing over and over. It’s not like THAT would get us anywhere." A little laugh escaped her. "Just, let's not yell at one another anymore. I mean, if we’re not careful we will have to have a fourth first date and THEN it would get ridiculous."  
During her little explanation, Liz eyes wandered out to the ocean. They came back, when this horrible man next to her, took her hand, as if it was made of glass, in both of his with her palm upwards. When she met his gaze, Vaas looked at her. He looked so happy. But not his usual smile or tongue biting grin. It was a soft, happy smile. It was the same sight she saw back in that shack during the dinner. This weird sense of adoration, looking upon her.

Vaas voice was warm and happy but in a calm way. "Have i ever told you the definition of insanity?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to admit i am not 100% happy with this chapter, but i have rewritten it SO MANY TIMES and i just want to move on with the story.  
> I don't want to get frustrated and lose my joy in this fic. :)  
> I hope whoever read this chapter still enjoyed it!


	17. Love is not a card game

"The definition?" Liz was a bit confused. Where did this come from now? How did Vaas mind jump from her compromise to insanity?  
"I.. Don't think so. Why?"  
While his left still held her hand, the right let go and hovered over her palm. 

"Insanity is doing the same. Fucking. Thing." He tapped the middle of her palm with his pointer finger, punctuating the words, before he started drawing circles. "Over. and over. and over. and over. and over. again." One circle for every 'Over'. It was a slight tickling sensation and Liz really had to fight, not to show it. After that, He went back to the tapping. "Expecting. Shit. To change… That. Is. Crazy."  
The entire time, Vaas held eye contact with this weird adoring, but at the same time, studying look. Making sure to notice every little change in expression on her face.  
"I see it everywhere. Those fucking pricks, doing the exact. Same. Thing." Vaas had started his tapping and circling again. "Over and over and over and over again. Thinking. this time. It's going to be. Different. No no no this. Time. It's. Going. To be. Different." It honestly made a lot of sense, in a really weird way. Also with every tap, he hit the same spot. It hurt by now. 

"All in all that makes sense.” Liz nodded a little bit. She was very careful to interrupt him. Was his little pause ment for her to speak or was he not finished jet? “When something isn't working, you have to change your approach. That's..logical. So.. Could you define for me, what exactly you're referring to right now?" There was no sign of annoyance to find on the face in front of her, so she continued.  
"Because with that definition you could mean both. That the idea is good or bad. Good in the sense that it is breaking the mold, because every time there was only one first date it didn't work out. For me and i will assume for you as well?" It was a rhetorical question. So she didn't wait for an answer. Vaas was so jealous back when they parted at the beach, it seemed unlikely for him to have someone else. Especially after what he said out on the rock. Not impossible, but very unlikely. Aside she didn't wanted to think about that anyway.  
"But you could also refer to it as something bad. In the sense that we would have the first date multiple times, expecting it to turn out differently. What brings me to the point where i would have to counter argue. Given that we took a different approach each time and it did indeed lead to a different outcome each time. Which is also completely logical and, given the definition you just used, therefore a very sane thing to do." Wait.. did she just call Vaas sane? Wait a minute. Now she confused herself. What?  
Vaas looked at her for a second,seemingly surprised, but it soon changed to his usual smile as he gave a little nod.  
"And it's not like we are fucking crazy, no?" Vaas didn't give her a chance to answer that question. "I really like the way you think nena. You're smart. I like that. It's a good. fucking. quality." Those last 3 words were punctuated by another 3 taps on the same spot.  
Aside from the pain in her palm, Liz actually felt a little blush on her face.  
"Thanks."  
Given that there was no further comment, Liz would assume, he was ok with her Idea?

The sun kept wandering over them.  
"It's coconut water." Vaas was staring at the burning end of his cigar. They had been using the silence to drink and smoke.  
After drinking the last bit of water from one of the bottles, she put it down. "what?"  
"Your favorite drink. It's fucking coconut water, isn't it?" Liz blinked a few times until the metaphorical light bulb lit up.  
"Oh! Right! The game. It's up there yes, but i actually prefer an Ipanema over it. You know, a Caipirinha just without the booze.” She didn’t give him time to ask the obvious. “I know, its weird. Who drinks cocktails without alcohol? But they taste really good! Also i can’t really afford getting drunk, you know? Lucky me, i bribed a bartender that pours me guaranteed alcohol free drinks, even if they are not on his usual menu.”  
A raised eyebrow looked at her. "Bribed?"  
"Oh. Well.. It's less bribed and more friends actually. There aren't many people that i count as trustworthy, but i fully trust, that this bartender not only keeps alcohol out of my drinks, but also keeps an extra eye out to make sure no one puts anything in it. After all, i am one of the few customers that doesn't damage the bar, start fights or vomit all over the place. He is ‘bribed’” Liz punctuated the word with finger quotation marks. “In the sense, that he really enjoys making cocktails, but no one really ever orders any. Most people just go for the hard stuff right away or just drink beer. So i offered to be the guinea pig and try all the alcohol free versions of his new creations and offer my honest opinion on them. Sometimes i even help naming them."  
None of this was a lie, Florian was a friend of hers. Sure, she called him her brother, but she still wanted to keep him out of this as much as possible. On the other hand she just introduced another male person she had a good connection to, to a man that showed jealousy towards the mere mention of her brothers. So she added a semi-whisper. "I also listen, when he needs someone to gush over that one local girl that he has a huge crush on." She pointed a finger at him, returning to normal volume. "But you didn't hear that from me." Vaas just chuckled and gave her an approving nod. Knowing that toxic masculinity on this island, he probably thought Flo was a ‘weak man’. “I am serious! Don’t tell anyone, ok?”  
“Fine. I won't tell, but only if you answer me: How many did you already have?” 

Cocking her head to the side, Liz looked over to him in confusion. "How many did i already have? Alcohol free cocktails?A lot?" The smoke left his mouth in little huffs, as Vaas had to laugh. "No! Nena.. Where does that innocents come from? Hm? I am talking about how many guys you already had. More specific: How many guys did you fuck already?"  
Shoulders falling, Liz could feel her face heat up again. So they were back at inappropriate bedroom questions? Great. "Aw~ Mad you can't skip it? Because i really want to know." That stupid grin was plastered all over his face again.  
"Uh.. Um." Why would he want to know that? Like seriously? That didn’t matter! Or at least it shouldn’t. "There has to be a reason you light up like a candle every time i talk about it." From his face and the playful tone, this was Vaas attempt to lighten the mood. At her expense, of course. Yay~.  
"Could it be? Hm? Mi reina doesn't have an answer for me? Are you telling me you are a v-" "Staaahahap!" Honestly it sounded a lot more like a whine than a request, when she covered his mouth with her free hand. For just a millisecond, the fear of pissing him off, by interrupting him, striked her, but then she could feel the shit eating grin under her hand. Liz couldn't even take the look he gave her, so she threw her head back. "uhhg. Why does everyone have to make things sexuall in this place?" Letting her head fall down in both her hands, she took a small moment.  
So what? She was just not very comfortable to talk about those things. It was just embarrassing to her. Why was this such a casual thing for everyone here? Even her brothers talked open about these things.. For her it made her head burn, her hands sweaty and shaky and on top of that her voice would always get wavy and silent. She couldn't help it! It was uncomfortable!  
Sure, she wasn’t the most experienced person with these things, but she had reasons! 

Next to Liz ear, she could now even hear his shit eating grin, while he chuckled away at her embarrassment. After a few deep breaths Liz took her left hand away from her face to hold up 3 fingers. "I dated 3 people.." She changed her hand to 4 after a short moment. "well now it's 4." Her eyes were fixated on the red and white blanket pattern. "Hm~? That doesn't answer my question, now does it? Nena~?" This teasing little sing song voice did not help with her embarrassment.  
God.. She really just had to take the dive, didn't she? With shaking hands her ring and pinky fingers sunk, leaving her pointer and middle finger standing. Actually, she sunk her middle finger half way too.  
"Oh? And what would that mean?" There was a tap on it.  
"Wh..well. Uhm.. You specified 'guys' and they weren't technically a guy yet.. You know? Still waiting for surgery." It was honestly a little wonder, that Vaas could even understand a single word she uttered, with how silent it was. Why did all of this matter?? It felt as if her head was going to explode. He really just wanted to make her uncomfortable, didn’t he?  
"Hm. So only one to compete with, no? That is good. I like that! That fucker probably had the tiniest dick, didn’t he? Not good enough for mi r-" "Uuuuuugh!"  
With one tug, Liz hid her head unter her tops neckline and let herself fall over on one side. "Tell me when the topic changed." What the fuck did he mean with ‘compete’? It wasn’t like she was missing her Ex and surely she was not missing the sex. For fucks sake, why did everyone here put so little value in the mental importance of this!  
The only thing she could understand from his following sentence was 'You' before the rest seemed to switch to something spanish. It sounded more like a cooed off-comment. 

It took a short moment for Liz to gather herself. Vaas wanted to throw around bedroom questions? Intimate infos that were no ones business? Things to soon for their current status? That were embarrassing to people or at least to her?  
Fine! Surely she could come up with something…  
Unfortunately, the first thing that did came to mind, was the same question but inverted.  
How many women were on his body count? No. The only person that would be uncomfortable form that, was her. He was probably proud of that number. As soon as that thought passed however, her mind went into a place way worse..  
How many of those, would have been with him in consent? The woman he had paid aside. From what it sounded like, he hadn't been with someone that cared about him and wanted to be with him, because of that feeling, in a while, if even ever.  
Did Vaas ever..the mere thought hurt, but had he ever forced himself on a woman? He surely could.  
Heck! He was the leader of a band of pirates, that ran around the island to rape, pillage, steal and murder to their hearts desire. When she went to the beach, it was one of her fears, of what could happen!  
Did Liz even want to know that answer? No, she actually didn't. Honestly, Liz already wasn't sure if she could build the blind trust you needed for a relationship with him in the first place. But if she would know that he ever did something like this, she would probably never feel ready to trust him with her full mind and body. A.k.a feeling safe enough to actually sleep with him.  
Have sex with him.  
Ok she really got uncomfortable now in her own mind.  
What was another thing people kept secret about their bedroom affairs? Now that she already took the plunge in cold water, she might as well drag him into it too.  
Nothing really came to mind unfortunately. He seemed pretty open about all of that anyway. As much as that baffled her.  
What else was uncomfortable? Embarrassment! Vaas did ask her a lot about sex, probably because it made her embarrassed. So what would make him embarrassed?  
He was a pretty prideful man, so...

Freeing her head from her top, Liz eyes came back to meet Vaas, who just looked at her smug. "So? What is your guess, Nena?" Right, she still needed to guess his answer.  
"You don't strike me as a Bi-Person.. No offense. But, I'll guess zero guys?"  
From the looks he wanted her to guess his ladies number, but Vaas seemed to accept her answer. After all, he had put emphasis on the word 'Guys'. "And it's going to stay that way. I fucking hate sharing! Two bitches? Sure! But i am not fucking some guy." Good to know, so at least that was out of the picture.

".. Ok.. Uncomfortable questions it is. Two can play that game!" Getting back up, Liz eyes were squinted in a challenging stare, which was happily answered.  
"Oh? Bring it on then. I will gladly answer everything you throw at me."  
"Good. Because i want to know" Dramatic pause. "What was the stupidest thing, you ever did while drunk? The thing you regret the most?"  
Ok maybe that wasn't the most uncomfortable question, but interesting nonetheless. Mostly the regretting part was something she wanted to know.  
What would be something Vaas Montenegro would regret doing?  
He seemed to think for a bit. "While drunk?" Liz nodded to that.  
"Yes. Or well under the influence of any decision influencing substance, for that matter." After all, Liz knew this man was an addict, so there had to be embarrassing stories there!  
That bonus info however, seemed to trigger something. She didn't know how, but somehow this question managed to turn the table. Now Vaas was the one staring a hole into the blanket. He was the one looking uncomfortable and tense.  
For a second Liz felt triumph flooding her, but the second wave was concern and worry. The longer Vaas stared down, the more he tensed up. This wasn't good. Usually a question like this, had a pretty funny answer. Like her driving one of her parents tractors while being shitfaced for the first time and crashing it into the silo. Causing that to fall into the dung heap. She had to pick out the remains from the dung heap by walking in it for 2 full 10 hour days after that and smelled like it for nearly a week.  
But this? This didn’t look like something fun.  
"Hey.." Her right hand found its place on the arm holding her left. "You don't have to an-"  
There was a sound from the Radio and a voice. 

Liz couldn't understand what he said, but that didn't matter, it seemed to flip a switch.  
Vaas seemed to shake out of whatever stasis he just was in, took the radio and answered.  
It sounded like a question.  
From her guess, it was something like 'could you repeat that?', because the same spanish words were repeated.  
This honestly seemed like a good break. A calming point for now, so she would sell it like that.  
Before Vaas could press the button to speak, Liz gave him a gentle shoulder pat and a soft smile.  
"You know what? You deal with your work stuff in peace and i will be right back. Promise. No running away. Just a 10 minute break." With a last gentle circle on the shoulder, Liz stood up and left Vaas to deal with his stuff. Maybe that would get his mind off, of whatever Liz just made him think of.  
She could feel the eyes linger on her back, even after a heavy accent asked a "Vaas?" over the radio and he finally gave and equally spanish answer. 

A short walk to the southern side of the mini island later, Liz made very sure she was not followed and alone. One of the main reasons she walked that far away from the picnic and not just out of earshot to give Vaas some privacy, was the fact that nature called. So she made one last sweep, looking for anyone, before crouching down in the lush and relieving herself. Always making sure, she wasn't seen or heard was one of her top priorities. Not many things were worse than getting spotted literally pants down, doing your business. By anyone, honestly. Predatory animals, Rakyat, Privateers, Pirates and anyone in between. It was embarrassing and depending on who it was, dangerous to deadly.  
Getting back to a standing position, the muscles of her thighs burned. The little marathon over here was already showing its effects. Great.  
It was slowly getting in the direction of evening.  
With the candles in mind, Vaas planned for this to go beyond sundown. When and how was she going to leave this little island? Sharks were nocturnal. In the night you could find them way closer to the shore of Rook. The swim wasn't particularly long, but the water was deep enough for these aquatic predators. Also what if her legs started to cramp while swimming over? She already had an ache.  
Asking Vaas for a ride was out of the picture.  
Making a stop at the beach would be a detour, that she would have to count on. From the northern beach of this little island it was a straight line towards the compound. Sure that was closer to the shore in general, but Vaas wouldn't let her leave then, wouldn't he? It being to ‘dangerous’ to let her go alone and instead ‘insisting’ on taking her with him.  
This fortress was the most horrible place on the northern island. Unfortunately, also the most secure. Sure, Liz had been in there multiple times for her raids, but she would be getting in, through the main door, with Vaas probably having her watched 24/7 after that. The only exit, that was collapsed, was the one that she took to flee back then. If Vaas would catch her, using another one of her tunnels, there would be a lot to explain. So, no. She was not leaving this place with him. 

On her way back, Liz got her whittled spear and 2 mangos from a tree. If he liked the juice, he would surely appreciate some fruit as dessert. Also sweets were always a good comfort food.  
Vaas had looked so upset.  
It was such a confusing feeling. He constantly made her uncomfortable, many times on purpose. Sure he had also taken certain steps to improve her comfort around him, but still. She should feel great to turn the tables and give some of that back, but that just wasn't who she was.  
Liz was feeling really bad about all this. So fuck it!  
Was du nicht willst, was man dir tut, das füg auch keinem Anderen zu! (A german saying. What you don't want, that's done to you, don't do to others.)  
Sure this day was fucked up, but it also was kind of fun. The entire date felt, natural? Like being with a person. Sure a horrible person, but he seemed a lot more human, than expected. Just like at the beach. It was actually nice, against all odds.  
Sure there was the whole pulp situation, but aside from that little escalation, things were ok. 

Once back at the picnic, Vaas was gone.  
Everything was still how she left it, just missing the other person.  
Did he leave?  
Maybe something important came up?  
Or.. did she really step over a too personal line with that question?  
God damn. Now she felt even worse. She really shouldn’t feel bad! Vaas overstepped her boundaries a bunch of times, even though he said he would respect them. Man, she should really call those out more. On the other hand, she didn’t wanted to piss him off.  
But if she never called those out, they would become normality, so she kind of had to and OH GOD why was this so hard?!

Vaas or no Vaas, this place was nice and the weather was just perfect. She should just take her time and enjoy this free day. It wasn’t as if Alec was waiting for her to come back today anyway.  
So Liz just sat down and started to peel the mangos. The peels landed in one of the empty containers and the cut fruit went into the other.  
After about 10 more minutes happy munching on her dessert, something in the back of her head tingled. This time, she wasn’t taken by surprise. There was the most silent of sounds. Grass moving, a single disturbed leave. Something or someone was moving closer. It was still a bit away from the end of the treeline, but definitely coming in her direction.  
The sound was still far away enough, for Liz to get to the treeline and try to somewhat hide behind them, but too close, to get up the branches unnoticed.  
This could be a lot of things. A normal person would probably think it was definitely her date, but if you lived here long enough, you knew the jungle was ready to fuck you over any moment of your life.  
Not to mention, this was very silent movement. A casual human approaching, would not sound like this. This sounded way more like someone or something on the hunt. Some predatory animal or maybe a Rakyat warrior? But what would one of them do here? Did they see the boat and wanted to kill whatever pirate was roaming around? If yes and one of them would spot her, at this obvious friendly get together, this beautifully arranged scene, Liz neutral status could change very, very fast.  
It was a real relieve, once she spotted the red top and mohawk walking towards the treeline, but also a surprise. Not to mention, it was impressive.  
Vaas wasn't exactly a small person, that was easily looked over. The last time she paid attention to his actual movement, was back during their chase. Back then, he masked his stepps pretty well using the sound of her own, but now? Right now he looked pretty relaxed. And for a person with an imposing aura like that around them, who also didn't look like he was paying attention to his stepps, Vaas movements were astonishingly silent.  
The tree Liz was leaning on, had some fruit. Lucky her, she knew that leave pattern and berry shape. These were edible berries! Mulberries to be specific! Some of her favorites actually!  
So she made herself obvious, by standing up properly, getting up the tree a little bit, plucking a few and bringing them over to the blanket. From the movement in the corner of her eye, Vaas seemed to have spotted her doing this and watched for a bit, before sitting down with her again.  
“Dessert?” The container she held up was filled with a mix from the berries and the remaining mango. As if she would have known it, he took a piece of the golden fruit. Liz herself took a mulberry and threw it in her mouth. Vaas looked way more like before she threw out that question. What a relief.  
“It’s your turn, by the way.”  
Instead of paying any mind, to the side eye this statement got her, Liz just ate more of her juicy treat. She should really note that there was a tree here, so she could come and get some more every now and then! Apparently her little decision was accepted. That and the fact, that she did not show any interest in knowing what he just talked about on the radio. Why should she? It was none of her business anyway.

For his next turn, Vaas seemed to think pretty hard about a question. It’s been over a minute of him, just taking small sips from his glass, obviously in deep thought. Something seemed to bother him. Was it still her question? Or was it that radio call? Was something with that wrong? But he seemed so calm after it. Collected even.  
Or was it just that he did not know what to ask? They had answered a few things already and he was obviously not interested in the 'standard' stuff. Probably because those could be found out easily by just observing.  
After all, out on the rock, he had admitted that he didn’t know how to do this himself. So they were both somewhat clueless. It did cause some sympathy in her brain.  
“..We don’t have to keep playing this game, you know? If it’s something specific that doesn't have a ‘you’ answer. That is ok too. We can just ask stuff about one another, if you are more comfortable with that.” Those words were accompanied with a soft smile. “It was just for an easier start of this, but now we are in it already. So.. as long as it's not something too extreme.. Or just talk about any topic, for that matter” 

"Why work for Earnhardt?"  
That was what kept him thinking like that? "Why i work for Alec? Well.. I need to get money from somewhere and collecti-" "No, no, no. Why the extra step?" They locked eyes again. "It's pretty fucking convenient, that the old man is keeping you on the other side of my fucking island now, isn't it Nena?" It was like looking into the deep jungle, but it's true form. A terrifying lush of danger and death. It made a shiver go down her spine. So the switch was flipped again?  
"Right now, where i want you as close to my place as possible."  
It shouldn't have been a surprise, that he caught on to that. From the annoyance plastered all over Vaas face, Alecs idea, of making her more viable to the general business of Rook, seemed to work. Still, being caught red handed, while her importance hadn't really increased yet, was not a good sign. Vaas could easily rip her out of that system now.  
"It.. is pretty convenient. That is true. In multiple ways even." She couldn't shake the mild panic and the shiver in her voice. But why was he asking this now?  
"Oh?" He did not look happy with her. Not to mention her reaction probably didn’t help.  
"Yes." With one deep breath, Liz tried to steady herself.  
She couldn't let herself get too intimidated by him. After all, she had turned the tables once already on the beach. Also she had to remember that lying was stupid. If Liz was one thing then a horrible liar and Vaas was obviously good in reading people.  
"Alec.. Well. I owe him a lot. He is the reason i am still here. Without all the help and advice he gave me, i wouldn’t be alive today. So, when he asked for more help, i agreed. I want to help him as much as i can and he wants to make sure i am safe. i would even go so far an call him family.” After holding the disapproving gaze from the man before her for a few seconds of silence, Liz broke eye contact to give a deep sigh with closed eyes.  
“Liz, so hat das alles keinen wert.” (Liz, none of it is worth anything like this)  
Sure she could imagine, that Vaas was not happy about this. He probably was either mad, that this was throwing stones in the way of his plans for her, but it could also be a feeling of hurt, for her to assume he would do that.  
There was no true answer that she knew of. He didn’t know everything and she didn’t either.  
It was like they were playing cards. Everyone had their secrets and own tactics.  
The only time they could see the what the other had on their hand, was when they played the card and then it was already there and came out of nowhere. So they would have to guess what could be thrown at them by the other at anytime.

This was wrong.  
This wasn’t just some get together for sheer fun. They weren’t friends who just hung out and play. This was a date. To be more specific, this was what would probably be stated as the final first date of them. A serious matter.  
No one should date someone else just for fun. They wanted to get to a point, where there could be a relationship. Or at least Liz wanted to give that a chance.  
This wasn’t a game. There was no singular ‘winner’ in a relationship or at least there shouldn’t be one.  
Sure with someone like Vaas in a place like Rook a healthy relationship was surely something impossible, but at least they could do whatever they could to make it as least toxic as possible. Right? Shouldn't that be what they should aim for?  
Revealing all your cards at this point, was too fast, that was logical. But on the other hand, in their specific situation, how the hell would they be able to build trust, if their cards could literally destroy the other person?  
Antagonizing one another was definitely not the way to go!

Turst was build with truth.  
With another deep breath, Liz eyes opened to look directly back into the troubled lush. Challenging the building anger and disappointment, with an understanding look. It wasn’t a smile per say, but not a frown either.  
“I will play with open cards.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope whoever reads this, was able to enjoy the chapter. :)  
> Hopefully i managed to include the bipolarity of our favorite lunatic enough.
> 
> Well anyway i hope everyone has a good day or night in these troubled times!


	18. Playing with open cards

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When you don't know how a game works, playing with open cards can help you learn it.
> 
> It is that moment, when you have over 8.000 words, but really don't want to split it in two.  
> Have fun!

It was a simple statement, yet it seemed to turn the tides. There was a curious shimmer in Vaas eyes.  
Liz was cross legged next to him, but turned to make sure, she could keep the eye contact.  
“Yes, you are correct, that Alec wants to keep me closer to the mansion.”  
There was a weird calmness in her voice. “It’s a failsafe or at least that’s what Alec intended it to be. A guarantee, that i can still go and do ‘my work’ or way more go and live my life just as free as before.  
We all know, that this could take a very bad turn, very fast and the only person with control over that, is you."  
There was no masking in her words. It was a little wonder, that Liz was able to talk this open, without a shiver in her voice, while looking him directly in the eyes.  
"No one knows, what is going on in your head, Vaas. The only thing everyone, including Alec, including my brothers and including me know, is that you are smart, you can be very cruel to people just for fun and that you are a very, very dangerous man, that shouldn’t be underestimated.”  
The words were slow and with weight in them. Still no sivers, but speaking felt like a heavy task. Liz didn't even know what Vaas facial expression looked like right now. All she could see was green.

“Does all of that mean, something bad will happen? That who i am as a person, is in definite danger from you? That the freedom, i fought for so hard, will be gone? Spending the rest of my days, locked up somewhere?"  
Only a short, closed eye, head shake interrupted the intense eye contact. She wasn’t sure what the turmoil was, that she could see, but Vaas was definitely listening.  
"No. It doesn’t.  
Does it mean, i still need at least some form of a safety net? Yes. Yes it does. As unfortunate as that might sound. I know you probably hate that i think like that, but I.. and everyone else on this island know, that one. single. mistake. can cost someone's life here.” 

“Alec wants to ensure that i go from someone who could just easely disappear, to someone who has at least some weight in the middle of this fucked up triangular system. Just to make sure, that the worst case scenario he and honestly everyone of my end who knows about this and is afraid of, will be less likely.”  
Honestly? It felt good to say these things.  
“You’re afraid.” It wasn't a question, it was a statement. His voice sounded cold and disappointed.  
“I have to. That is how i have survived until now. Know what to fear and make sure that it can’t happen.” What did Vaas expect? That she was suddenly going to be ok with everything?

“Now to the other reasons why it is convenient for me. First off: Payment.” For this, she let a bit off the tension go and actually looked at Vaas entire face again, instead of just focusing on his eyes. He looked still annoyed, but calculating. Maybe even a bit surprised. She did just lay open quite some info.  
“The thing is, Vaas, i am currently running on my reserves. Thanks to.. a certain someone, who shall not be named.” The annoyed undertone and look on her face, were not really on purpose. Liz just couldn’t help it. From the looks of it, Vaas had a good guess, who she might be talking about. “I lost my source for a bunch of my supplies. Some of these things are not easy for me to come by. Now that i do more and also spent more time working for Alec, he will of course pay me more and now that he knows about that whole supply problem, that i am currently facing, he can get me some of those things.”

Vaas just crossed his arms with a very offended look on his face. "I could get you absolutely anything you could ever want!" There was a small smile on her face, as Liz gave an appreciating nod.  
"I am aware of that, yes. And it's a nice thought of you to offer, it really is. Thank you. But that would mean i would be dependent of you. It would mean relying and leaning on this thing we are trying to do here for essentials. Turning this from a ‘let’s give this thing a shot’ to a ‘If this doesn’t work out i’m fucked’. Not the most healthy basis, if you ask me.. Also, It's not like i can do anything to pay you back for those things, anyway.”  
Just as she finished that sentence, the smug smile already looked down on her. Liz pointed an warning finger at him, before he could speak though.  
“Don’t even bother making that joke. I. am not. a fucking. hooker. period!"  
“I wasn’t going to. If i wanted a whore i could just get one.” The smile didn’t falter for a second.  
“There is actually something VERY interesting and fun, that i would like to buy. It’s already too fucking late to ask you, to quit working for that old man, anyway.” He pulled her a bit closer, holding her chin.  
“I want each and every first batch of whatever you make.” 

Liz had to actually blink a few times, till the message reached her brain. Even then, she just stared at him dumbfounded. Vaas wanted what now? Her first ‘first batch of whatever she made’? Did he talk about the different types of drugs that Alec was going to teach her? “Uh..” “Of course, if milady is not comfortable with that, I love getting gifts and i would love to give gifts.” For a second, she wanted to decline, but then there was a thought.  
From what Liz knew, Vaas was at the top of the pecking order, at least here in the north and pretty high in the south as well. He definitely could be a great help, getting things Alec couldn't. She could also somehow get a twist in there, to somehow get some good clothes from luggage again, without making it obvious she had already done that in the past.  
On the other hand, Liz really didn't wanted to make herself be dependent on him. That was such a huge lever, that Vaas could always use against her and getting 'gifts' in a periodical fashion, sounded like payment, like a job. Exactly what she didn't wanted. But.. Exchanging gifts? As long as it was mutual and they were random but like, in order and balanced? That's what couples did right? Give each other gifts every now and then?  
But gifting you Boyfriend drugs, just didn't sound right. What else would she be able to gift him anyways? 

Vaas had a giant ego. That was a fact. Someone once said "A good man can provide for his family." Maybe that's what this was about. He was so offended, that she declined his help and lookin for a way to share his riches with her, because she took a new job for a reason, that he wanted to take care of. As 'her man' in the future, trying to 'show her his love' in form of objects and just how much 'love' she could get from him. Playing the so sure of himself rich asshole.  
This was so cliché and stupid, but also kinda cute that he thought the old way?  
Not really, no. Just douchey.  
But if they did the hole gift thing, Liz had to make it clear, she was not some sugar babe.  
So she let out a sigh.  
"As much as that would benefit the both of us, let's not do this on a 'deal' basis. That whole 'gift stuff' is something couples do, which we are not yet and i get that it can be pretty sweet, but it should never feel like a must. I am not going to evaluate what i think of you, depending on something material. This has the potential to escalate SO HARD and believe me, i saw that happen already with a friend." There was some disappointment looking into her eyes.  
This was mean, she constantly shut him and his ideas down. Come on Liz, at least say something nice about it too. 

"The thing is: I don't want to feel, like you are trying to pay me, to stick around and i am sure you don't want that either. The value of an object shouldn't have anything to do with what we are feeling about one another. If i hang out with you, i would like for it to be 100% because i genuinely want to hang out with you." She gave him a shy smile.  
"I do appreciate, that you want to help me with my problems, don't get me wrong. I just don't want you to think that you have to, just so i like you more or something." Vaas was mustering every inch of her face, seemingly looking for something. Liz just continued. If she already showed her cards, she might as well go with the sappy ones too.  
"We both know, who you are and i am very aware of the fact, that you could probably get rid of ALL my problems, without breaking a sweat. The thing is, Vaas: I don't give a shit about WHO you are."  
She blinked for a moment.  
"That.. sounded absolutely horrible and mean. That was NOT what i was trying to say!” Liz hands shot up in a panic, her calmness lost.  
“Why did that sound so much like an insult?? What the fuck? It was meant as a compliment! For fucks sake. Aaaarg!” She covered her eyes and cheeks for a moment.  
“Why is my English failing me NOW?.. Let me reword that, ok? Lets just pretend i didn’t say this..”  
Surprisingly, Vaas stayed silent, with his hand still on her chin and cheek, and just let her take a deep breath, before uncovering her eyes again.

“I don't give a shit about what you are. Not. ‘who’. as in a person. And what i mean with that is: I don't give a shit or at least i don’t want to give a shit, about your status in the sense of dating you.  
Not in general or in the safety aspect, because fuck no!, that would be suicide and contradict with my points from earlier. Only in the pure dating aspect!” Could someone please tell just her, if this all this talk even made sense? 

“If i think about a relationship with someone, I don’t care about their status, ranks, money, power and so on, because none of that should matter. I am trying to get to know YOU. I want to date and get together with a person, not a walking wallet or whatever." She sighed. God, Liz really didn't wanted to insult him now. How could she describe what exactly she ment, when her brain went into ‘english? Never heard of him’-mode? Her desperation to explain, reached a point, where her eyes started to water a bit. She was messing this up, wasn’t she?  
“To get to the point: I do anticipate a time, where this aspect can outshine the fears for safety. When really all that matters, will be the person sitting here in front of me and nothing else. That moment may not be now, but i do hope it comes soon. I really do.”

There was a slight shaking sensation, coming from the hand on her cheek. The other face came closer, studying her features. Was he looking for a sign of lying?  
"¿Cómo demonios eres real?" Vaas looked into her eyes. Confused and happy at the same time. "¿Cómo puede alguien tan bueno existir?"  
Liz had no idea what he just said, but from the sound of it, it was good?  
Her confusion turned into inner panic, when the grip on her cheek tightened, to keep her in place and he leaned in, eyes half lidded.  
Oh no.  
Was he trying to kiss her?  
This was too fast! They were only on their first date!  
She wasn't ready to be in a relationship, yet! This wasn't their deal! 

To her surprise, even before she could say anything, Vaas closed his eyes fully and just bumped his forehead against hers with a deep sigh.  
"Me haces tan feliz, Nena. Sin embargo, ni siquiera me dejas besarte. Me harás luchar por eso, ¿verdad? Haz que me lo gane. Mi dulce angel de guarda"  
This time Liz could make out the words, but still couldn't understand what he said.  
The whisper sounded somewhat sad. Why was he sad? Did he do take it as an insult? Did all she wanted to say, really get lost in her translation from paniked brain to english?  
An insult would probably make him mad, not sad. Did she misunderstand something?  
Was it the gift stuff? Maybe it was something important from where he was from?  
Different countries, different customs and all.  
Where was Vaas from anyway?  
As far as Liz knew the pirates all came from different places around the world. 

"I'm sorry." Liz felt really bad all of a sudden.  
"Is the whole gift thing that important to you?" Their forehead to forehead situation was a bit too close for her liking. Their faces were literally as close as possible, without anything else touching. Still, her mind worked not into that direction, but the opposite.  
"If it is that important, we can figure something out. We are both supposed to be comfortable."  
With another heavy sigh, Vaas opened his eyes and after a short moment of, what felt like, him staring into her soul, he retreated, letting go of her face as well.  
"You make life really hard for me, Nena. You know that, right?”  
“I do?” Vaas just nodded.  
There was a heavy minute of silence, before Liz couldn’t fight a small smile.  
“You could call it karma. After all, you made my life a lot harder as well.” They shared a single short laugh. This was getting really uncomfortable and Liz could only think of one way out of this topic right now.  
"Well, It is going to take a pretty while, till i go from the medicine part, to.. you know.. and one of my brothers kind of already called dibs on the ‘first thing’, buuut you guys will just have to share. As much as you might dislike sharing things."  
"Oh?" Vaas was looking down on her somewhat amused. She wasn’t going to comment it further, but yes. Now she did plan on gifting him some. If it would make him that happy, why not?  
"But only if i get it fist." Her answer was nothing more than rolling her eyes. 

"Now.. The last reason includes yet again safety, but in a different way, than the first. It is less about you and more Rook in general."  
This was probably the point, she would have to explain the most to him.  
"As you might have already noticed it, but i am hard to find and like to stay hidden."  
"No? Really? I never noticed." The sheer amount of passive aggressive sarcasm was enough to get them both to laugh. Honestly, it was a good idea. Keep it light hearted!  
"Well, surprise! Also, you won't believe it, but there is a good reason for it. Just like everyone else, who isn't suicidal, i don't want beef with anyone. And while that would be easily achieved by staying in Bad Town, that city is not really a safe place, if you are unfortunate enough to not have a dick… There is actually no real safe place on rook, if you don’t have a dick. Seriously, you have no idea how good you have it."  
It was said as a joke, but in truth, Liz was serious. If she would have been a guy, life would be so much easier. 

"Anyway. Working as Alecs apprentice, will mean i will be the there more. It might be the other side of the island, but i will spent a lot more time there and will be, therefore, easier to find. I also want to agree on certain days that i will forage, help process and of course free days. So planning things like these will be easier." She gently took Vaas hand again, who gladly closed around it.  
"It will also help with my stand towards two of the three factions. Until now, sleeping over at the mansion was a no-go. To dangerous in the case that someone, red or yellow, was coming to pick something up. Maybe my presence there will be a bit more normal and an encounter unharmful, so i can actually crash there, every now and then."  
Or maybe it was just wishful thinking, Liz couldn't know until she tried. The hand around hers got tighter. Vaas had lifted it and looked at her knuckles. Caressing them with his thumb.  
"If shit happens, you better fucking remember what moi has promised."  
It wasn’t a touch, but Liz could feel the mouthed kiss hovering over her hand, while these eyes stared at her, promising nothing good.  
It took her a moment, until she knew what he talked about. Back at the beach, Vaas had made her promise to him, that there was no one else and told her, what he would do with anyone that touched her. He had also made it clear how she would have to watch… Still there was a very weird sense of security in her mind. Who would mess with this lunatic?  
"Thank you." He just gave her that creepy smile again. 

"Anyway. One of my favorite things the hohle situation brings, is also probably the most convenient point of it. The fact that it is a perfect decoy for the dating!"  
Somehow, she should have expected, not to see any enthusiasm from Vaas. Especially after what he just said.  
"A decoy?" Oh boy, they were back to growling. Before he could talk himself into a rage, Liz tried to intervene.  
"Yes. With how this Island works, it is the safest thing to do."  
"How this place works? How this places fucking works?” Oh no.. Why did he chuckle like that?  
“You” He took her hand in both of his and pointed his pointer finger at her.  
“have no fucking clue how this place works!” Liz wasn’t sure, what was creepier, the chuckle or the mocking tone of his voice.  
“It’s ok, it’s ok, mi corazon. I will explain. It is really fucking simple, you know?”  
All of the smiles disappeared.  
“I get, what I want! That's it. And if some motherfucker has a FUCKING problem with it-"  
Vaas held his hand to his head in the shape of a pistol. With a sound from his mouth, he tilted his head away. "i fucking shoot them!"  
His tone, the mimic and gestik told her everything she had to know.  
"You want to fucking HIDE US?" His new found laughter made all her blood freeze.  
"You want ME to FUCKING HIDE?!" Both hands let go of her, to gesticulate towards his chest, punctuating the ‘me’. “From THEM?” He pointed towards the Island.  
Liz had to take a stand. If she let Vaas overpower her opinion now, there was no sense in continuing to try. He would just steamroll her.  
"Yes. Because if this comes out NOW, it would KILL ME."  
"That is FUCKING BULLSHIT, NENA!"  
"Can you please just listen to what i have to say? You need to stop seeing everything from your high horse!"  
"You are MINE!” The new found hold on her wrist, was defined by dominance.  
“EACH AND EVERYONE OF THESE STUPID FUCKS SHOULD KNOW!"  
This was it. The whole objectification aside, she could deal with that later, Liz ripped her hand free and put both of them on his cheeks.  
"I AM NOT UP THERE WITH YOU!" 

After her first exclamation, she returned to a softer tone, letting her body tension fall again. Liz closed her eyes and bumped her forehead on him. If she couldn't explain this to him now, her life was on the line.  
"I am not up there with you, Vaas. You are seeing this world and how it works for you.. How it works from the top of this food chain, but it is so, so different for someone like me. Just because we are dating and maybe, at one point, get together, it doesn't mean i will join you up there."  
Vaas placed his hands on her own. He was breathing heavily. It nearly felt as if his eyes, were staring through her closed eyelids.  
"Just please, please let me explain it to you. Please, just at least try to see it from my point of view." What else could she do except beg him?  
It took a short moment of silence, till the hands slowly pushed her away. His face didn't look happy, but at least he seemed to listen.  
"This better be a good fucking explanation." 

Liz had turned them both to look at the sea, having all she needed next to her. If she was going to explain it to Vaas, she had to do it properly and as logical and understandable as possible. Leaving no space for counter argues.  
“From the perspective of someone like me, there are 3 big players in all of this.”  
She carefully freed her hands from Vaas again and took the wine bottle, placing it front of them. “Team red.”  
The rest of the bread found its place a bit away from the bottle. “Team Yellow.”  
Lastly, Liz placed the blue lid of a container down to make a triangle. “And Team blue.”  
Vaas was still silently watching her, but gave a small nod. There was no need to explain who was who to him.  
“I don’t know much about yellow, so i might be wrong with this, but these two, seem to be somewhat working together or at least coexist?” She placed both spoons, next to each other, down between the wine and bread, one spoon end for each.  
“Feeding of each other, in a way."  
She placed the two forks, in same fashion, between the bread and lid.  
"Now these two, i have no idea. Something seems to go on there, but i have never been to the south and that seems to be the place of action. At least from what i have heard.”  
A heavy sigh left her.  
“Leaving us with these.”  
She put the knives between the wine and lid.  
“I don’t know why this started or how and i honestly don’t want to know it, but this is the biggest conflict i can see here.”  
Liz took out her lighter.  
“And in all of this, there is the forth group.”  
She placed the lighter in the middle of the triangle  
“The People that are not part of the different conflicts. Some may have a better relationship with one team than the other. Still, they have no interest in partaking in any conflict and just try to live peacefully.  
Team grey.  
Of course this last team is rather small and in absolutely outmatched, by everyone. In it, there are people that are willing to help other teams, but only in regard of their own life. Like, the bars in Bad Town. For the Barkeep it doesn't matter, if the patron is from team yellow, red, blue or grey.  
It’s a person that just wants their business.  
The same goes for Alec. Sure he may be producing drugs and medicine manly for the these 2.” Her fingers pointed to the wine and the bread.  
“But also a little bit for grey and if the blue team would ask him and, of course, like everyone else, pay the same price, he would give his service to them as well. They just never ask, but at the same time, they don’t attack him.  
The same is for the entirety of Bad Town.  
Team blue might shun us all in team grey, but as long as they would pay and therefore help the grey team live and thrive, we don’t want to make a difference. We can’t afford having beef with anyone, let alone want it.” 

Liz carefully placed her hand back to where Vaas hand was, to get them together again.  
“I don’t want anyone to think, just because of this-” She squeezed her hand a little bit.  
“That i have changed my team. No offense Vaas, but i don’t want to be in team red.  
It might not change anything in regards of Team Yellow and might even improve a lot about my stand with team red, but it would also cause me to be involved directly into the conflict with blue.  
I am not a fighter. When I was asked to join team blue and fight, I said no and the same goes for all the other teams.  
The only one that will keep me out of it, that will allow me to stay in my peaceful, neutral position, is being in the grey area.  
Working more for Alec in the sense of my apprenticeship, is a good way to mask any other connection to different teams over the excuse of business. There are teams.. or people, that might not be very happy with this thing we are doing, Vaas. Of course no one would mess with you, directly. That would be stupid. The thing is, I am not going to be with you 24/7. That is unrealistic, unhealthy as fuck and would not benefit any of us, in the slightest.  
I am a completely different kind of target. I don’t fight. I disengage, before i engage.  
Like i said, i don’t want beef with anyone. I can’t afford it either.  
I do spent most of my time, walking around the island alone and i will keep doing that. I love doing that.  
It may not happen that often, but i do run into someone from team blue, on my foraging runs, every now and then. They know i gather for Alec and they will find out that i now do more. Which will be ok. We just keep our distance to one another and pass by or i just leave the area again, because i came to close to somewhere they didn’t like. If that is the case, they tell me off and i leave immediately. Like this, it stays peaceful. As long as we are in the line of sight with one another, there are eyes watching my every move.  
It may not be hostile, but that could change if it comes out, that i have more to do with you than just my work for Alec.  
I know it is a lot to ask. I know you probably want to talk about it with your friends, but there is a good reason, why i asked you not to, at the beach. I may not like them, but that is no reason to make them my active enemies.  
My life is already stressful enough. A crosshair on my back is really the last thing i need.” 

For a moment Liz thought, Vaas was going to go off on her again, but he just sat there in silence, looking at her makeshift chart. All while still playing with her hand. Stroking it with his thumb.  
Now that she took some time to think about this. Recounting all those things made her a bit choked up. Good thing she was done talking already.  
Liz only mentioned it with bad town, but in reality, things were a lot harder. In general it seemed you had to draw the shortest straw as a woman on Rook. Even the ones working in shops, seemed to have no real choice in their life, whatsoever.  
That was actually another point she would love about their secrecy. A chance to gain some form of respect from others. Locals, pirates, maybe even privateers?  
Not because she was ‘Vaas girl’. She wanted it to be for her, as a standalone person. The new ‘Doc’ in the making, so to speak. It didn’t even needed to be big respect or something. Like talking to a higher up. All Liz wanted, was just basic eye-to-eye level respect.  
A part in her had already given up on it. Even to the non pirate locals, she was ‘just a woman’. Her brothers friends, apparently, never believed them, that she was surviving alone in the jungle. They claimed, that she had someone, providing for her. 

The same part of Liz, was telling her, as soon as she and Vaas would be ‘together together’, he would probably shift and treat her the way, she saw everyone treat their female partner here.  
All that mattered to the men here, was the fact that you were a woman.  
Being a pretty, submissive doll. Something to be ‘owned’.  
Fucking Disgusting.

She may have claimed to only have 100% male friends, but Liz did have one female person she would very vaguely call a friend. Her name was Crystal or more her ‘work name’ was Crystal. She was a local of Bad Town. A stripper, to be specific.  
Liz frequently paid her a visit for a haircut. As logic acquired, they talked. That's how she learned a lot about the main culture of Rook, bringing her to a conclusion.  
Even before all this shit went down, the locals where fucked up assholes.  
Being born into the Rakyat as a man, meant an upbringing filled with hunting, fighting and survival. If you showed unfit for a warrior, you would become a crafter, shopkeep or farmer.  
Being born as a woman however, you were teached how your value was determined by whether or not, you were married of to a strong warrior. If not, being a concubine or mistress to one was your next best case scenario. The last options were marrying the unfit or becoming a prostitute. Only a very small amount of women were allowed to become witch doctors or priests to their gods. Those were the only ones that had the right to speak up. They were ‘chosen by the gods’. All others would work in the fields or shops under the ‘unfit’ or just stay at home to raise the children. 

Following Crystals words, most women were happy with that life, as wrong as it sounded. But, if you grew up with it and never knew it could be different, what else was there to do?  
Apparently she was married of to a rather brutal warrior, when she was just 15. A big honor to her parents, an absolure nightmare to her.  
After the chaos on rook started, she ran away from his home one day, while he was out hunting or whatever and found refuge in Bad Town. Unfortunately even here, she couldn’t find work other then selling her body. At first she feared her husband was coming for her, but he never did. He either died or just took a new wife.  
‘There is a bright side. Most men here are way more gentle than he ever was to me. Some even care about my own pleasure.’  
Honestly, back then, Liz just wanted to hug that woman. How could someone be so broken and so strong at the same time? The worst part was, Crystal didn’t even sound sad or angry when she told her all this. For her it was normal. 

You could look at it from whatever angle you wanted, Rook didn’t have a good and a bad.  
Here there was only bad and worse and it wasn’t even restricted to which side you were on.  
It made her angry and sad and caused a sick feeling in Liz stomach, making her want to puke.

These deep and terrifying thoughts were enough of a distraction, that she didn’t realize Vaas had let go of her hand, until he began snapping his fingers in front of her face. Liz had to blink a few times, to snap out of it. Her eyes were wet, but not to the point of crying yet, so she covered them, took a deep breath and wiped her eyes in a motion leading her fingers to her temples and then down her cheeks, before landing in her lap.  
Looking up to Vaas, he was crouching in front of her, looking pretty concerned. Liz wanted to say something, that she was fine or so, but the lump in her throat would just cause her voice to sound pathetic and then she would cry.  
“Back from your little trip in there?” It would have been impressive, how Vaas managed to seem concerned, while also making a joking question, tapping his head. If her mind wasn’t a mess right now, she would have giggled at that. Instead, Liz just nodded.  
As if he could read, that she was coming down and that talking and touches would just make it worse, Vaas sat down next to her, motioning around them.  
“Good, because you're missing the best part.” Her eyes slowly followed the gesticulating hands.

It was stunningly beautiful. The dying sunlight was in their back, coating everything around them in a dance of golden light and long shadows. The lush looked like paradise and even if she couldn’t see the sun directly, the last rays, hitting her through the trees were filled with joy and warmth, making her feel better in an instant.  
The sounds of the ocean indicated that the high tide was coming soon. The candles around her were all lit and, even if they didn’t shine as much, in a few minutes they would take over the sun's fading glow.  
At first, Liz wanted to turn to Vaas, to admit that this was amazing and thank him for the set up, but once she did, words just didn’t wanted to come out of her mouth.  
The trees, lush and cliff were bathed in gold, so where they and god damn… 

Vaas was sitting cross legged hands on his knees in a relaxed fashion, facing her. The rays hit him from the side, accenting and complementing every single feature of his form. Especially his eyes and the green gem on his necklace started to shine. The latter even threw the smallest drop of rainbow on his top.  
It looked more like a picture someone drew then reality.  
One side of him was completely illuminated in golden glory, while the other half was kept in shadows.  
It felt so poetic and symbolic. Capturing the bipolarity of this man.  
On one side, he could actually be some form of nice. He was pretty funny, when he wanted to, cared for her well being and seemed to try really hard to make her feel safe around him.  
On the other side, was a monster. A terrifying, sadistic creature that murdered, tortured, enslaved and broke people. Ready to strike at any moment. 

This was, what Vaas Montenegro was. Cheery and cocky in one moment, cracking jokes and having fun, a living nightmare in the other. There was no inbetween, no choosing which one she wanted.  
The bright side held a hand out, waiting for her to take it.  
There were no means to tame this beast. No method to fix him.  
She already said yes to this, but again, in this moment, something told her, this was the right choice. As scary and unrealistic, it sounded.  
Instead of just taking his hand, she held out her other to the dark one as well.  
If she wanted the bright side, she would also have accept the dark. Liz wasn’t ready to give herself up quite yet. In fact, she should be just as untamable as him.  
Accepting both sides of this man was going to be a huge challenge. But strangely, she felt ready for that. Not ready for a relationship yet, after just one date, but she did feel a bit more ok with him already, ignoring the guns and shit. 

They just sat there, holding hands and staring at each other, until the night fell completely upon them. It was surprisingly peaceful and fulfilling.  
Compared to all the talking they had done earlier, now there was complete silence.  
Just two sets of eyes, having a conversation of their own.

When the moon was up, Vaas gave her a small nod upwards.  
Following it, Liz was, again, completely robbed off all words. The night sky was clear, causing thousands of little dots to shine. With slumped shoulders and open mouth she stared in awe. When was the last time she had seen so many stars? When was the last time she actually paid attention to them? Vaas had let go of her hands, but she didn’t pay it to much mind right now.  
They were all there. The big dipper, little dipper, cassiopeia and a few others she could name.  
Her mother teaches her that. How many times did she lay with her, on the top of their barn, watching them?  
God damn it, she had just fought off the lump in her throat! 

Something soft touched her arm. Her already big smile, grew a bit larger, when she saw the offered blanked.  
That's why he had that here? Did he really plan for them to stargaze from the beginning?  
There was an unspoken request, but Liz didn’t feel like they were already at cuddling. Instead she folded it into a long sausage and placed it behind the both of them. The holster for her machete was unclasped and with two taps on the spot next to Vaas, she laid down, resting her head on the makeshift pillow.

It didn’t take long for the pout to shift into a smile and for him to join her. For a second she got uncomfortable, as he reached for the rifle. Once it was on the ground and out of sight, everything was fine again.  
They didn’t utter a single word. Just stargazing and enjoying each other's company, holding hands.  
She could feel his eyes on the side of her face, for the most part, but the astounding sight above her, just captured her eyes, not letting go anytime soon.  
At one point, Liz lost track of time. She might even have nodded off for a second.

Vaas was the first one to move, sitting back up. It actually startled her a bit. Making her yawn too.  
“I guess it’s time.” He didn’t sound that happy about it, but he was right.  
It was the middle of the night and, as peaceful as this was, sleeping here was a stupid idea. Also Liz was not ready to trust him enough, to sleep even remotely close to this man. Yes, she did nod off a bit, but she surely wouldn’t have slept!

Cleaning up together, was pretty fast. The confused look on Vaas face, got the answer of: “You already set it up. I am not going to make you clean all this alone as well.”  
He looked more, as if he was going to just leave it behind, but joined in with the cleanup after all. There wasn’t much to pack, but once Liz had her hands on the vase, she stopped for a moment. She hadn’t really paid any attention to the flower, until now. From the form, it did remind her of an amazon lily. Those grew on Rook? Yet, it didn’t face down, but upwards. A local species?  
On top of that, He actually picked flowers for her? That was so cute!  
Acknowledging it now, felt weird, so she just took it out and smelled it. Some people say, lily's don’t have a smell and are a ‘sad flower’. This one, however smelled sweet and really pleasant. With a smile, she placed it behind her ear.

When all was packed up, Liz had to stifle a giggle into her hand. Vaas was standing there, basked in one hand and holding out the other arm. Not in a ‘hold my hand’ fashion, oh no. He was standing there in the ‘offer to arm hold’ position.  
It was an obvious attempt, to get her, to give him something more, than just holding hands. When you hooked someones arm with yours, it was baysicall a more intimate hand holding plus a small side hug. The way he proposed it, looked a bit ridiculous and was definitely copied from some sucky, over the top movie. It was weirdly adorable.  
Also, he pulled it off with sheer confidence. So, why not?  
Without giving it more thought, she gently semi-hooked in and placed her hand on his arm, but without the side hug part.  
The giant amount of glee, radiating from the body next to her, forced a blush on her cheeks. Also she could feel that short flex. Poser.

Once back at the RHIB, Vaas jumped in, set down the basked and held a hand out for her to grab.  
Her obvious hesitation was met with disappointment. “What?”  
Wasn’t this exactly what she had predicted earlier?  
“I.. won’t come with you.” He just raised an eyebrow to that.  
“Isn’t it common courtesy, to bring the lady home safely after a date?” His smug tone, didn’t help.  
“Something tells me, i should rather swim.”  
“There are fucking sharks in the water, Nena.” To her surprise, he sounded actually concerned and honest. Also bossi and annoyed, but that was to be expected.  
“I know, but-” “All your gear is at the Mansion and that is where we're going. Now be a good girl and hop in.”  
“Vaas i ca-” “There is a car waiting at the pier. Don’t make me fucking drag you.” The last part was a plea but also a threat at the same time.  
Liz just shook her head. “It’s too close.” The mere thought of getting anywhere close to the compound, with him next to her was to dangerous.

Vaas just groaned in annoyment. “Fine!” She couldn’t quite make out the next part. It was cursed under his breath, but it did sound a bit like ‘fucking compromises!’.  
“I’ll set you off at the shore and you’ll wait, till i get back with the fucking car.”  
After a short hesitation, Liz grabbed his hand and let him help her up the boat.  
“You drive us anywhere, that isn’t the shore, i will jump out. Sharks or no sharks.” The good thing with being a bad liar, was, while people could call your bluffs, it was also obvious when you were serious.  
She never expected to see that amount of stress on the face of the feared Pirate lord, as when he realized that he HAD to start their little drive in the direction of his fortress. For a moment she had thought about complaining, that he drove that close to the small island, fearing they could hit a rock, but right, they had to get past that hump and Vaas obviously didn’t wanted for her to think he was turning towards the compound, risking her to diving down, into the maw of a shark. 

Not even 2 Minutes later, Liz feet were on land and she watched the boat drive of to the distant pier. He had left with a: “You are not walking there alone!”  
From the worry, written all over Vaas face, she decided to actually, vocally promise she would wait.  
Thinking of it, it was nice. Vaas was just making sure, she got back safely. Her point of them just walking over to bad town together, it wasn’t that far after all, was declined again, because of her gear, being at Alec's place. He was pretty adamant about getting her to the Mansion. It did make sense. Liz told him, she wasn’t a fighter, so he was not comfortable, to let her go back on her own. Especially at night and without her bow. Most predators where active at this time.

After a good 6 more minutes, there was a car coming and stopping on the road just behind the treeline. Inside the scavenger, there was just Vaas, waiting for her to come in. To her surprise, no one liner.  
Sitting on the passenger seat felt awkward. After giving up the search for a seat belt a good 30 seconds in, Liz also realized the absence of the ‘Oh shit handle’ much to the amusement of the driver.  
“I haven’t been in a car.. for a while.”  
“I can see that.”  
What came to more of a relief, was the fact, that the scavenger had no doors. So she could jump out, if she had to. 

At first, that was nearly what she did, because Vaas turned the car around, driving up north again. The only thing stopping her, was Vaas grabbing the top of her hand and trapping it under his own, on the gear knob. There was a small panik building in her gut, coming closer to the pier, leading towards the compound.  
He wouldn’t do that. That's what she said in her head over and over. Just say it, until you believe it.  
The stress, the bumpy dirt road and the speed, made Liz brace herself in the foot room with her legs and on the cars frame with her free hand.  
They passed it.  
They passed the pier and Vaas continued to drive them on the northern shore road. After a breath of relief washed over her, Liz could see, he was looking at her from the corner of his eyes. Her smile was answered with a knowing grin and Vaas shifted gears, using her hand. 

Thank god, that survival had teached her, not to scream of surprise anymore, because she just realized this man probably never had a drivers license. The scavenger sped across the islands northern shore. It was now that she realized that this was not the shortest, but definitely the track with the least people around.  
Holy shit, he was actually, again, paying attention. Like this the chance of being seen was, even though they were already slim thanks to the night, near zero. Even when they got near any buildings, Vaas would steer them off road, but never let up on the gas, except to shift gears again, to not lose speed or accidently fling Liz out of the car.  
He was laughing all the way, seemingly having the time of his life. Her reaction to the first bridge, must have been comedy gold for him.  
Walking over those, she never even trusted these things with her own weight. So her silent sounds of panic and worry, just challenged him more.  
What was wrong with this guy?! She didn’t even realize the point of the road, that she always crossed to get to the beach, until they already passed it. Thats how fast they were going!

Only when they got to the point of getting somewhat in the one kilometer range of Amanaki, Vaas slowed them down to a less suspicious speed and turned off his lights. That stupid town was not even 400 Meters off, from the bridge toward the half island, that the mansion was on.  
Liz could imagine, that Vaas usually would have given a total of zero fucks, if anyone noticed him approaching the bridge, but yet again, he slowed down for her. Honoring her requests.  
As much as she had gotten used to seeing in the dark without a light, it was just impressive how Vaas could actually drive a car like this. The lights stayed off for the rest of the slow drive. They didn’t stay silent though. Something about his chuckles was just intoxicating and she had to join, after they crossed the bridge. 

The car came to a halt at the mansion. All lights were already off. There doors would be open, Liz knew that.  
For the shortest of moments, she didn’t wanted to get out and from the hand that still held hers prisoner, he didn’t either.  
“We’re here.” He at first sounded a bit disappointed, probably regretting, having driven so fast, but then the tone shifted back to this sly smile.  
“Mi lady escorted home safely, just as promised.”  
“Why thank you.” She gave a little sitting bow. After a short laugh, Vaas let her hand free.  
With short hesitation, Liz took the flower from behind her ear. How it had managed to stay there during the ride, was a mystery.  
“Thank you again, for the date and for listening.”  
With a nimble left hand, she placed it behind Vaas right ear.  
“I don’t know the last time, i just sat down and enjoyed a sunset like this or just stargaze.” Liz spoke soft and silent.  
“This was amazing. I don’t think i can think of something that is going to be remotely close to this great, that i could set up for next time,.. but i will figure something out. For now,” Liz got somewhat up and took Vaas right hand from the gear knob. She wanted to give some of that gentleman stuff back.  
“I hope you are aware, that as much as it is common courtesy to bring the lady home safely, it is in vain, if the lord doesn't make sure to arrive safe at home as well. So..” During her little peck on the back of his hand, lady stile, Liz fought through her blush and held eye contact. “May mi lord have a safe travel home.” She let go, turned around and left with a high red face. She could practically feel the grinning stare in her back. 

“Sweet dreams, mi reina.”

She just looked over her shoulder slightly. He was giving her a little wave.  
“Good night Vaas, sleep well.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought it was fitting, to end the tird attempt at the first date with a third chapter.  
> I hope you enjoyed it!  
> It is pretty stuffed with lore and how rook works for the 'lower lifes', but i hope it was not too dry. ^^"  
> The whole thing about how the rakyat work, was something i stumbled upon while browsing the wiki for different infos and it kind of surprised me at the beginning!  
> With citra being the leader, an all, but i think i already know how to implement that! Yay!  
> Anyway, hope you all have a good time!


	19. You would not believe your eyes~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a lot longer than i thought.  
> Inspiration kind of got the better of me and i worked on parts for 4 future chapters, instead of finishig this one. Sorry!

"Wait, what did you just say?"  
With wide eyes Liz stared at Alec.  
"There has been a change of plans, my dear." The doctor, one again sighed.  
"There has been a request, specifically for you, to produce my, most wanted, own creation and not a small amount of it either." He didn't seem happy about it.  
"It is not a good thing. You have one week. They gave me work as well, to make sure, all i do, is giving you instructions."  
That didn't sound good. This was a test, wasn't it? See just how much potential she had, by requesting the most wanted drug? What would happen if she failed? If, what she made, wasn't of good enough quality? Or quantity? 

When Alec told her about the specific ingredients of the drug, her life as a drug maker, cook or whatever it was called officially started. It wasn't much, right now, but once she was starting the producing process, Liz would learn everything about drugs, that Alec could teach her.  
Fuck! She really wanted to delay this with the medicine.. It was such a weird thought.  
She, out of all the people on this island, was learning how to do this.  
Now Liz had one week to complete her first order. A big one.  
1,5kg (a bit more than 3lbs) of Dr. Earnhardt's self invented drug 'Firefly'.  
Now that she thought of it, it would have to be a bit more than that.  
Liz was going to make her first drug, meaning she would also have to make a bit more for..  
Wait a minute. No way. 

"Uhm.. Alec. Who exactly, wants me to make this?" If he was going to say Vaas, Liz would bite herself in the ass!  
He had talked about working for Alec and wanting her first tries, after their break for the radio call.  
Did he order this and then trick her to get some free shit as well?  
"The tyrant himself. Yesterday, about two hours after you left. He was here, in person, asking for you. I told him, you were out gathering for me and he gave me the order." Alec shook his head in disbelief. “I needed a double dose after that..”  
'The Tyrant'? Who was that supposed to be? Vaas had been with her during that time, so it wasn’t him.  
The questioning look on her face seemed to cause even more concern in Alec.  
"You need to be very careful, my dear. Hoyt Volker, is the deadliest creature on both these islands combined and he was not happy, that you weren't here."

Liz legs burned with every step. Her little marathon yesterday was felt in every motion. Alec had explained her the main ingredient information about the drug, but it looked like she would need a lot of supplies. Most of them were from her foraging too. Things she brought him so many times before.  
So that was her first point on the agenda.  
First gathering supplies, then follow the instructions of Alec and hopefully be finished at the end of the week.  
Apparently, this Mr. Volker didn't even give her a week, at first, but Alec could convince him for 2 more days, with some arguments he didn't tell her. 

Currently Liz was on her way to a well hidden cave system, to collect the main ingredient.  
It wasn't too far from the mansion, just at the south, of this little half island, but the walk over was still not the best. A lot of ups and downs.  
It was also close to another cave, that was often riddled with lots of pirates. What they did in that cave? No clue, but on rare occasions, Liz could hear the yelling of pirates, especially Vaas and screams and cries of their victims.  
The caves insides bordered to one another, their entrances, though, were somewhat on opposite ends of the hill, they were in. At least like this, she didn't have to sneak right past them.  
Still, as soon as she was getting close, the rest of the way, was done crouched. No need to risk, being spotted. 

Normally, the entrance to this Cave was only accessible during certain low tides. That was usually the time, Liz was getting this exact ingredient for Alec. Right now, the small hole was completely under water. So she was going for a dive too. Great.  
Turning her flashlight on, she took a deep breath and dove down into the ocean.  
At first, the mere thought of diving into a flooded cave, had scared her, but after all this time and countless visits to this place, she could find her way in, practically blind.  
The entrance was an about 2 meter tall rip in the stone that went from a good 1,5 meter wide bottom to a somewhat crooked closed tip.  
Even when the cave was accessible from the beach, during low tide, you had to somewhat know it was there, to find it.  
Squeezing past the gab, Liz got inside the cave. 

Her head broke the surface and the familiar shift in temperature and humidity hit her.  
The air was salty, cool and comfortably humid, not as sticky as outside, but also a little bit stale, stagnant and thick. With the closed entrance, there was no chance for the air to circulate.  
As soon as she was out of the water, Liz put her flashlight in its lantern mode and placed it on the ground, illuminating the entrance area.  
This part of the cave wasn't that big, a narrow tunnel, with Little pebbles littered the floor, molded to a gentle oval shape and pushed in here by the sea. The limestone walls and floor had a distinctive, white-ish color from all the salt, that gathered over the time, mixing with the lime. A few smaller stalactites hung from the roof.  
Liz knelt down to open her wet backpack. Inside was a big Plastik container. The container was mostly empty, besides her book, her 'grocery list' and a mask made of an old shirt of hers.  
It wasn't the best filter, but it would do for this purpose.  
Mask on and flashlight illuminating her way, Liz walked deeper into the darkness. She packed one of the nice and smooth pebbles, as a Handschmeichler. (Hand flattering stone)  
While she made her way through the dark and wet surroundings, playing with her stone, her mind wandered to yesterday. 

As soon as she had been inside the mansion and could hear Vaas drive off again, Liz had fallen into the guest bed upstairs, with her hands on her face and this very weird feeling in her gut.  
Not like something bad was about happen, more a flutter of happiness.  
She had had fun. She had had legitimate fun and a good time with Vaas.  
He had been so nice too! A bit annoyed and jealous and overprotective at some points, sure, but all in all he had been an somewhat ok person.  
Which was exactly what made her feel horrible right now. Liz had, once again, expected the worst from him. It wasn’t stupid to do so, but it obviously hurt Vaas.  
Also, she had gotten uncareful.  
Liz had relaxed around him, not fully, but she still even went as far, as lying next to him and closing her eyes in a drowsy manner.  
Back then it was nice and felt so right, but right now? It scared the crap out of her!  
Liz had kept telling herself, Vaas wasn't going to hurt her, because it wouldn't get him what he wanted, but could she really be sure about it?  
Why was she so happy right now?  
She should be terrified.  
On the other hand.. 

The effort Vaas had put into this entire date, was just baffling.  
The sheer attention to detail.  
Making sure the food was identifiable, going as far, as putting a feather in, to reassure her. During eating, it looked like he wasn't the biggest fan of cassowary in the first place, but he obviously chose it for its distinctive color, smell and taste.  
Vaas had chosen a lonely, astonishingly beautiful spot for them. Setting up that lovely, cozy picnic, by himself. Even though she could have helped.  
There was also only one wine glass.  
He had remembered that she didn't like wine. Back at the beach, it was just an off comment of her, but he had remembered and respected that. 

During their talk, Vaas had let her speak her mind. Sure the uncomfortable questions and buttheading aside, but even then he somewhat accepted it and went more in her direction with things like the color question.  
He agreed on every compromise she gave him.  
Once Liz had started to explain her situation to him, he didn't interrupt her again. Letting her lead the conversation, nearly the entire evening.  
His eyes had been fixed on her. Vaas had seemed like he wanted to drink up every piece of information, Liz was willing to give. Her knowledge of the ‘team’ was surely not 100% correct, but he let her explain, what she wanted him to understand.  
And he immediately proved that he did just that.  
His persistence, to get her home safely, the comfort, when she was obviously upset, by her own words and thoughts, adjusting to her requests of safety and secrecy. Even going so far, as turning off the lights around Amanaki.  
The more she thought about it, the speedy drive home, was probably him trying to cheer her up. From the moment they had walked back to the RHIB, Liz had tensed up again and there was no way, Vaas hadn’t noticed it.  
Back at the mansion, he could have pushed her for more. To get something else out of this day, but he didn’t.  
So many moments of just, awareness, understanding and even somewhat gentle and cute behavior.

Also fucking stargazing?!  
Seriously, what guy, in the 21st century, planned a date with stargazing? That had been so amazing! The weather and location had been perfect for that as well and he had an extra blanket there, just in case.  
Making her wait for the setup and, now that she thought about it more, the blindfolding was a very sweet thought and so adorable! Albeit it being scary.  
He seriously planned this all to go perfekt!  
How fucking cute! 

By this point, Liz had already rolled over to her side, hugging the pillow and hiding her red face in it, like a flustered teenager. This really reminded her of how she felt, after very nice dates back home.  
God, was she developing a crush already?  
This was so messed up!  
Vaas was dangerous! She was very well aware of this. He was cruel, he was horrible, sadistic and a monster!  
Yet..  
Vaas was seemingly able to have a casual conversation and human emotion.  
He was an uncontrollable beast, but he put his heart into making her feel safe.  
The entire date was for her. He had set it up and all of the preparations were made with her in mind.  
Her requests seemed to hurt his pride, but he swallowed it down.  
Just. For. Her.  
This thought had kept her awake for at least another two hours.  
Even in her dreams. 

Liz couldn't really remember what she dreamed of, but there was a picture in her head.  
A third person view of her and Vaas sitting at an, to her unknown, cliff. They were leaning on one another. Her head on his shoulder, his on her head. Arm in arm. Vaas was split in half, just like at the sunset. A golden side of light and a black one, made from shadow. The shadow had its arm around her, clinging onto her with its claws. Possessive, but weirdly protective?  
The light held her hand in front of them. Gentle and caring.  
The rest of the dream had fallen from her memory, shortly after waking up, but this image stayed.  
It felt nice. 

The narrow tunnel started to shift. The stone walls became more and more yellow. The pebble floor, turned into solid stone, getting a bit more slippery.  
After a slight turn downwards, the tunnel opened up to the large main room of the cave.  
Tall stalactites, stalagmites and some nearly forming columns littered the cave with little puddles of clear freshwater. Every few seconds, you could hear the sound of water drops, hitting the stalagmites and puddles all around the cave. It was like a magical orchestra. 

To get down into the area, you had to step down a 'staircase' made from little pools of clear water. Liz always tried her best, not to accidentally destroy any forming stalagmites, while moving in here.  
At the far end of the big room, there was a giant underground pond of the clearest and cleanest freshwater Liz had ever seen.  
In its middle was a big dripstone column, stretching out of the water, big and proud.  
You could see the platforms and rifts, that formed over, what must have been, tenths or even hundreds of thousands of years. You could even make out, where the stalagmite and the stalaktite had met, to fuse into this amazing formation.  
Every now and then, a drop of water would disturb the surface of the pond around it, until it fell still again, for a few minutes. 

Honestly, this in of itself, could be an amazing thing to lure tourists here.  
This dripstone cave wasn't big, but the size and shape of these formations was just breathtaking.  
It really didn't matter how many times she got here, this sight was always jaw dropping.  
Over the many times she had been here, Liz had named most of these, like she imagined a tour guide would do. Just for fun.  
As magical and astonishing the formations were, they weren't the best part of this dripstone grotto.

Once Liz turned off her flashlight, the true beauty of this place was revealed.  
The dark cave, was lit by dozens of bioluminescent mushrooms, growing on the vitamin rich cave formations.  
They were nearly everywhere. At the feet of stalagmites and columns, the walls and along the sides of stalactites, stalagmites and small columns.  
You could see them peek out of little rifts and gaps.  
The only place they stayed away from, was the big pool and the main column. It was like a weird form of natural respect. 

The caps varied in size between a bottlecap and a cars steering wheel. They glowed in a calming green and the air was filled with yellowish, weakly glowing spores, that fizzled out after a few moments of flight. It really looked like fireflies, flying in the dark night.  
That must be, why the drug was called that way.  
When the light was on, you could mistake the mushrooms for weirdly formed formations, as they had the same color as the stone. Once the light was off, though, they shined.  
It was still dark inside the cave, but you could, at least, see where you were going. 

Mycena kentingensis.  
Or more a mutation or subspecies of it.  
Alec had found these by accident, when he was looking for a different kind of cave mushroom.  
While the small specimen had nice little caps, reminding more of the main species, the big ones would evolve into more plate looking caps. You could only find them here in this room of this specific cave. Every try form Alec, to raise some in the greenhouse, failed.  
Something about this place was just perfect for them. They grew without any sunlight or dirt.  
Truly fascinating.

While the cave was filled with these mushrooms, only the really big ones had a high enough density of the needed hallocinogetics, to be useful for the Doctor. They also were the ones to produce the spores, which seemed to have their own properties in that regard.  
The fungi was basically a drug makers wet dream come true.  
Mushrooms with hallucinogenic, but also calming properties. Alec had mentioned they had something comparable to a few of the 6 or was it 8? happiness hormones in its cells or at least something that was causing them to be produced inside the body. The Spores also had hallucinogenic properties, but in some different way. Alec wasn't very specific.  
With the other ingredients, all the different effects were going to be filtered and amplified.  
Creating the 'experience' that was 'Firefly'.  
You couldn't get super high from just breathing the spores, but, following the doctors words, it was a 'nice buzz'. Liz still had to dive out of here at one point again, so no. She was not taking that lightly.  
The mask was just going to reduce the amount of spores she breathed in, so time was still of the essence.

Once she started cutting some mushrooms from the rocks, taking the stem off and placing both stems and caps in her container, her mind went elsewhere again, while her body worked on muscle memory from countless gathering trips here.

When the entrance wasn't flooded and most adult mushrooms were already picked, the air was relatively clear of spores and circulated fine. You probably still shouldn't be in there for hours on end, but for a short look around it would be ok. Like an hour, maybe two?  
Maybe this place was a good idea for a future meet up? 

It was a nice hideaway from the heat, close to the mansion, so she could play the reverse uno on Vaas for his location of choice and choose one of the most western points of the island.  
Also the insides were just breathtaking.  
Tell him to meet up at a near point, show him the place and then maybe sit together outside or in the shadow of the entrance? Enjoy a few hours together? Talk a bit.  
Learning more about him, would be nice. They were talking a lot about her yesterday.  
Also what were the odds of Vaas knowing about this place? Sure, on the other side of the mountain was a cave filled with pirates, but just like the beach, Liz never saw anyone here.  
Aside from Alec, no one seemed to even know about this amazing location. 

Liz could pack some lunch. Something light for the heated weather, maybe. It could be something made from foraging? Fruits, berries, edible herbs and plants.  
Would that be impressive? Really show off her knowledge of the island and her capabilities of understanding this place in the form of an array of edible goods from the jungle? Back at the dinner, he said it was special, how she lived in the jungle like that. How it was ‘in her heart and soul’.  
Or would it just insult him?  
He could take it, as her being a show off. Wanting to prove she was better than him.  
In providing food, reading and living from the island, he called his own and presenting it all as a big "fuck you!" inside a container, addressed to his ego.  
Was she overthinking this?  
Maybe her brothers could help with that. She should go talk to them soon.  
Liz needed someone to freak out about the, honestly amazing, third-first date anyway. 

God.. How would they react? Flo seemed relatively chill about it, but J-J..  
He had freaked out after beach day!  
Again, his words came to mind.  
Vaas was playing with her. His goal was to trick her into sex and trap her at the compound, to keep as a pet. Her rules meant nothing to him. And so on.  
Up until now, Vaas had kept his word. Yesterday he went above and beyond to make her happy.  
Her current amount of trust towards him was probably more than what she should have, but that didn't mean, Liz was about to just walk into the compound. 

At the end of that thought, she was already at the exit again, ready to dive out.  
In her backpack was the container, filled to the brim with mushrooms, to keep them safe from the water.  
On her way back to the mansion, Liz accidently, stumbled upon a few of the herbs, she would need.  
The gathering went a lot better than what she expected. 

“That is good." Alec overlooked her harvest. "but i fear, we will need more.”  
Liz just stared at him with a sincerely shocked expression. "But.. But that is like, double the amount i usually get for you!"  
"i know.. Like i said, Hoyt requested a very large amount." The old doctor emptied her container, setting the mushrooms in a dark box.  
"We need to dry the mushrooms, herbs and the red berries. From the purple ones, we need the seed in the middle. Mushrooms are made of nearly 92% water. You need about 3kg (7lbs) of fresh mushroom, to create about 500g (1lbs) of dried ones."  
With an annoyed groan, Liz packed the empty container, left her lighter and book behind, for more space in it and went back on her way towards the cave.

At the end of the day, Liz had made 4 more trips to the cave and back, collecting roughly 9kg of the mushrooms. Her container couldn't fit enough, to do only one more trip.  
It took the rest of the sunlight day. Not because it was hard or something, but the area started to fill up more and more with the men in red.  
Liz had to dodge them in her way and wait for them to pass her, when she couldn't just walk around them.  
It was always groups of three to four pirates.  
Weird. Usually they were tag teams on patrolls like this.  
They talked a lot in spanish or whatever other languages they seemed native in.  
On her last trip back, though, she was pinned for a moment and couldn't help, but snatch some info again. 

Liz was hiding in the lush, laying flat on the ground, as 3 Pirates walked by.  
"-just saying that, he seems to be in a really bad mood. I can’t be the only one who noticed?"  
The guy saying that, wore a black bandana around his neck and had a red shirt with a white skull on. He got himself a slap to the back of the head.  
"Shut up and focus, hermano." The guy that slapped him, kept walking, sweeping the area. His face was completely hidden in a red bandana. You could see his eyes, but that was it. He was shirtless.  
The third man walked past the first, wearing the bandana around his neck and a black shirt, giving his colleague a shoulder pad.  
"Don't worry man! We've seen the boss way worse. It's probably just a broken Toy." 

The shirtless one, stopped the group, just next to where Liz was hiding in cover.  
It caused her to shuffle into a even smaller position. If these guys caught her, she had a problem. They were literally 4 meters from her, had an assault rifle each and weren't packed with a mushroom heavy backpack.  
Usually, the patrols stayed closer to the streets. What was going on with the increase of security? She understood it, back when Vaas was hurt and stuck at the mansion, but now?  
Shirtless guy, took a sweep of the immediate surroundings and for a second Liz thought, he had seen her, but he just lowered his gun and turned to the others.  
"Gotta take a piss."

While he came closer to her hiding spot, beneath a bunch of bushes, Liz had her eyes fixed on the man. This could still be a dangerous situation. It could be a decoy, to make her feel safe.  
Once he grabbed into his lower clothing, though, she turned her eyes away. Seeing a filthy pirates dick, was really not on her bucket list. Watching one piss, especially from this perspective and position, was also not something she would ever want.  
The sound of liquid spilling onto the jungle floor was disgusting. It was right next to her. Maybe a meter away. Gross!  
God this stuff was better not flowing over to her…  
At least the other two were a distraction from the puddle forming, way to close for her liking. 

"You guys are sure?" Something about that red shirt guy seemed off. The way he held himself, the tone of his voice.. Was he a new guy? He looked unfamiliar with his surroundings. Or well, more than the other two.  
“I mean, the camera was still rolling and he gutted that captive. Doesn't he usually wait, till the we got the money? I guess you can cut the video and still send it, but..”  
"He's fiiine.” The black shirt interrupted him. “That guy probably had it coming.”  
“Not rea-”  
“Also, even if there is something going on, there is nothing that can't be fixed with some booze, some pills and" Through the bushes leaves, she could see the guy grabbing and humping the air, grunting and moaning. "a good fuck!" All 3 started to laugh, but the red shirt man, sounded more like unsure laughter.  
“You’re just to uptight! I give you a week, then you get it.” The black shirt padded him on the shoulder again.  
Piss-guy added something as well.  
"Yeah. Get yourself a stripper or some local bitch and do whatever the fuck you want. Get that stress out! Boss is probably getting himself two or three tonight again.”  
Seriously what size was his bladder? This was unnatural!  
The stench nearly made her gag.  
“I call four!” This guy, with the black shirt, really seemed to like that thought. “That's what i would do, if i had that kind of money!”  
“You'll see, after that, everything will be just golden again."  
Finally the topless guy was done and stepped away. “Remember where we are, Mike. This is paradise! The land of every mans dream. Bosses life motto: Sex, Drugs and Torture dolls."  
This had to be the worst interpretation of ‘Sex, Drugs and Rock N Roll’ she ever heard!

Liz really hoped these guys would move on and do it soon. Not only was the conversation just wrong and uncomfortable to listen to, but the puddle hat lost its surface tension and was creeping in her direction. 

The, way to happy, black shirt started to explain, just what he would have 4 woman do with him in way to great detail and Liz decided, that watching pee move over the jungle floor, in her direction, would be the most comfortable thing to witness here. As fucked up, as that was.  
The shirtless guy started to chuckle again. “Actually, i think i might go to town tonight. It’s more fun with the locals. They struggle, at least.”  
“Riiiight! You lost the right to fuck the captives!” WHY did he sound so excited?! This was so many levels of wrong!  
At least the guy in the red shirt looked about as uncomfortable, about all of this, as Liz, while the other guy, put an arm around his shoulder, pointing at the shirtless one.  
“Josè knocked a tooth out of a girl once!”  
The liquid was coming really close now.  
“That bitch bit me!”  
“Kick her in the stomach or something, don’t fucking damage her face! You’re lucky, all you had to do was clean the dog shit for a few months! Could have been way worse! Imagine, if it was an actual pretty one!“  
The puddle nearly reached her hand, so she, very carefully, lifted it, to let it flow beneath.  
“At least i don’t get a stiff one, staring at the k-”  
“¿Dónde diablos están ustedes? Estamos a punto de salir!” The annoyed sound from the Radio, was like a dream come true. Liz recognized that voice. It was the same, she heard yesterday, coming from Vaas radio.  
The black shirt grabbed it from his belt and replied. “Nosotras estaremos ahí!”  
Just fucking leave already! This shit was moving towards her shirt! Liz didn’t have a spare one at the mansion or anywhere near this place! She would have to move all the way back towards her home, with a pee soaked shirt. Not to mention, that she didn’t exactly had time for that!  
“¡Será mejor que seas! ¡O puedes caminar de regreso a tus puestos avanzados!” It sounded really annoyed. “¡El jefe no te paga por relajarte!”  
Whatever the voice said, it caused the men to hurry up and leave towards the Pirate cave. 

As soon as they were out of earshot, Liz jumped up and ran in the opposite direction. That was SO god damn close! The smell was still in her nostrils. As if it was burned into them. Same for the look. The color had been an unhealthy thick yellow and fuck!  
Liz had to stop and dry heaved a few times. It was so disgusting! Her entire body shivered.  
The next batch of flowers, was instantly picked and held under her nose, for the entire way back to the mansion.  
Something didn’t leave her mind. The guy in the red shirt, said Vaas was acting unusual. It was weird, how that bothered her more, than the story of a man being gutted in front of a running camera.  
Hopefully Vaas was doing alright.

Back at the mansion, she finally had all the ingredients ready.  
Night had already fallen, so Liz let herself fall into the guest bed after a short bite of food with Alec. He gave her a short heads up, on her to-do list tomorrow.  
With that, her first day as a ‘drug doctor’ was over.  
Only 6 more left to prove herself as useful to the most dangerous creature on Rook.  
The cave was empty of adult mushrooms. She just barely managed to get the needed amount.  
Liz couldn’t allow herself mistakes.  
She had only one shot and 6 days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter. :)  
> The joke about the Pirate peeing a lot, is something from the game. If you pay atteintion, you will notice some urinate excessively.   
> (So much it's even mentioned in the wikki)  
> I have absolutely no idea about drugs in real life and i don't know how to research them, without landing on some list :D  
> Can really do without that.  
> So thanks to my Sister and best friends for ideas for made up drugs and their ingredients/effects that i will use in this fic!  
> I know they won't read this story but credit, where credit is due!
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading and have a nice day!


	20. Crashing down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING!  
> We are heading into some dark waters and they are called:  
> \- Domestic abuse/violence.  
> \- Unconsented use of drugs.  
> \- Manipulation  
> Please, continue with caution.

The entire drive home, Vaas had been giddy.  
His hand was still tingling, from the kiss, as he could still feel her lips on it. He just couldn’t stop himself from grinning like a child, while speeding towards the pier.  
He had had so much fun! And his Nena had done so well!  
She let herself be led by him, blinded.  
It wasn't the way, he had intended and also not very effective, but, as it turned out, it was a lot of fun!  
She ate his food, after short hesitation, and answered most of his questions.  
His queen understood the definition of insanity.  
She used it, in a smart and philosophical way, to describe the two them and their current status.  
In fact, she had thought in its way, even before he told her about it.  
Vaas fucking loved it.  
He had learned a lot about her today and he would use all of it, to make sure, his queen was going to be his and his alone. 

The sunset had to be one of his best ideas yet!  
Light and shadow had accented her form, to a point of beauty, it was hard, not to immediately take her, right there on the spot.  
Shower her in kisses and signs of adoration, while making her his own. Gently, of course.  
He couldn’t go full on out, in that situation. Where would the romantic symbolism be?!  
Anyways.  
It had also been obvious, that he wasn't the only one who enjoyed the sight.  
Fuck! It felt so good, feeling her eyes wander over him, adoring every detail of the picture, before taking his hands again and meeting his eyes. 

Just how she took both his hands, even though, he only held out one.  
It didn’t take much, to figure out, it had something to do with the light and shadow hitting them, her eyes were pretty telling.  
Curiosity and kindness on one side, met caution and fear on the other. 

It felt just like back, when he watched the video of her message to him.  
The little, careful leopard, was finally daring to get closer to this tiger.  
This time, she had brought most her claws, there was no cage, no force keeping her here and yet, even though she had the chance to run, she had chosen to stay with him.  
Every time they had held hands today, it was either him initiating it or her trying to get his attention to something else.  
This time, she not only accepted his initiation, but she took the extra step.  
Smiling at him, while doing so. Accepting him, in his ways.  
Like the leopard walking past the tiger, letting their fur glide against each other.  
Mixing their scents, to mark him as not a threat.

Watching his queen, staring at the clear night sky, first in stunned amazement and then slowly nodding off, while he caressed her hand, felt like..  
He couldn’t even describe it.  
It had to be his favorite moment of tonight.  
The kiss on the back of his hand, came close second, but something about the peaceful breathing next to him, trapped his mind.  
Like a beautiful, alluring spell.  
She must have been exhausted from the day. Probably the day before that too. Sleeping in a mango tree was not very replenishing. Also, she ran all the way here, after reading the message.  
Just to make him happy.  
He just couldn't get mad, when her eyes started to fall shut, after all this. 

Vaas had seen and felt, how every piece of tension and worry, slowly faded away.  
This was what he wanted to see, every night, from now on.  
Her resting form, the soft rise and fall of her chest, the peaceful features of her face.  
He could have stayed here, watching over her, until sunrise. 

Unfortunately, he also had a job to do and his end of a deal to fulfill.  
It must have been an hour, of her drifting in the space between sleep and wake, before Vaas woke her up. 

Once he was at the compound, Vaas immediately put the flower down on his nightstand and went looking for a vase, worthy of it.  
He didn't quite understand, why she gave it back to him, but he somehow really liked it.  
The way she held it and placed it behind his ear.  
Like an expensive jewel.  
Next to his chambers were two rooms, filled to the brim with shit, Vaas had collected over the years.  
All stuff from captives.  
Some he kept out of interest, some out of pure spite, some because they looked nice and some he had just put in there, because he needed space or wanted to use them for games and then forgot about them. 

It took him a few minutes in one of the rooms, till he found a high crystal champagne glass.  
It was from a wedding, on a party boat, a few months ago.  
Unfortunately, he and his men missed the point, where the the priest said that shit where you could yell “objection!”. It would have been so funny..  
Also disappointing was, there wasn’t even an actual priest.  
It was just some guest, with a license or whatever.  
Vaas would have really really liked to spent some time with a priest.  
He had so many funny ideas and he still missed that job category in his ‘Torture doll bingo’.

Back then, he had kept the champaign glasses, to either shatter in front and press the shards into the the guy, whining about his boat or make him drink some disgusting shit out of them.  
That asshole was literally held on gunpoint, by his men, begging for Vaas to take whatever he wanted, from the ship, but to leave the glasses alone.  
Something about an heirloom? Emotional value?  
Shouldn't have said that. 

Unfortunately, Hoyt had taken that entire boat for negotiations and then blew it up, when nobody was paying. He didn't leave a single toy for Vaas.  
What a fucking shame.  
Now they were just gathering dust in here.  
The box said something about a flute shape and high quality crystal glass.  
They were engraved with symmetrical slashes, diamond shaped forms and were, just in general, shaped to look really fancy.  
At the bottom inside of each glass was a tiny, handmade glass swan. It could also be a dove or something, Vaas honestly didn't care. Some form of elegant bird.  
This kind of stuff was not fitting his personal taste, but, following the box, a single glass was about 250$.  
So yes, he was absolutely going to misuse it, as a truly fitting vase for his queens flower.  
After all, who was going to stop him? 

Empty.  
Vaas was standing in front of his bed.  
It was empty and he felt a hole in his chest as well.  
Earlier, when Vaas was over his dental routine, it felt like he was coming down from a trip.  
Not a good come down, where you just slowly fizzled back.  
A bad one.  
He was crashing and he was crashing hard.  
Instead of the cloud, he was lounging on, drifting down to the ground and gently placing him back on his feet, it was like a ball chain had suddenly manifested around his ankles and ripped him off the cloud, down into a hole filled with sea urchins and acid.  
His skin got itchy and stinged, there was a tingling sensation under his fingernails, his tongue felt like it saw less water, than the sahara and a deep pit formed in his stomach.  
It fucking sucked.  
Suddenly everything fucking sucked.  
Everything good and fun about tonight, all of a sudden, fucking sucked.

Vaas never exactly got what he wanted today, didn't he?  
These fucking compromises!  
They were nothing, but dog treats! Meant to keep him silent and at bay.  
She gave him something similar to what he wanted, but never the actual thing.  
Just enough to keep him satisfied, but at the same time, frustrate him, to no end.

You want to blindfold me, being romantic and shit?  
How about making a fool of yourself?  
Food?  
Well, i will assume the worst, before even seeing it.  
You are asking about the way, you can make me happy?  
Let's shut you down and only talk somewhat about the topic, once i am forced to answer. Doing what i can, to make you feel bad, for being interested, in making me feel good.  
Oh? You wanted us to cuddle up, under the blanket? Make out a bit and become one under the clear night sky?  
Yeah, how about i fall asleep? Doesn't that sound better? 

He should sleep. It was the middle of the night, and he had a full to do list tomorrow, but no matter how much Vaas tossed and turned, he didn't even get close to becoming sleepy, despite being tired.  
Instead, the itching got worse and the pit in his stomach nearly made him dry heave.  
On top of that, his mind went darker and darker per minute.  
Crashing. Fucking. Sucked.

Not only did the compromises sound more and more like ways to stall him, the request of secrecy was like a knife to his pride.  
Was she ashamed of being with him?  
Status, power, money. Hadn’t she said, those things didn’t mean anything to her?  
It was a fucking lie, wasn’t it?  
There had to be a different reason.  
She was holding him down, trying to control him, wasn't she? The deal, the compromises.  
It made sense now.  
She was building a cage around him, trying to control his mind, his thoughts, his actions.  
Trying to get his power.  
Just like that bitch...

What the fuck was he doing, anyway?  
This puta wasn't supposed to have a choice!  
She was a runaway captive.  
He fucking owned her already!  
Vaas didn't need to get chosen by her.  
That wasn't how you got yourself a woman, a wife.  
You just did it.  
You just went out there, took whichever one you wanted and boom.  
Got yourself a Wife.  
For fucks sake! A few years ago fathers, regularly, lined up their, near naked, daughters for him to choose his mate from, his future queen and now he was supposed to make HER choose HIM? 

Fuck. This. Shit!  
He was the fucking Apex of this Island, the king!  
He was the one with the FUCKING dick!  
If he said, he wanted you, you compiled or you died.  
Vaas was going to show her, present her, the two choices.  
No, not her.  
As long as a woman was not taken by a man, she belonged to the ones of her family.  
Didn’t she say, she liked her brothers, oh so much?  
Well she would surely love to hear, how they gave her up, to him, in exchange for not getting a bullet through their brains.  
He was going to make sure, she knew her fucking place. 

It was here, in his home, where she was supposed to live, clean, wash and maybe cook, if he didn't wanted to get something from the cantine.  
Every time he came home, she had to greet him with open arms and spread legs.  
Like a good, fucking, wife should.  
Shower him in adoration, praise everything he did and worship his body, like she had a god in front of her.  
That was, how it was supposed to be.  
Vaas could imagine it already, behind his closed eyes. 

He would come home after a long day and there she would be.  
Waiting for him in showing clothes.  
A miniskirt and something that just barely covered her top. Both red, marked by his symbol. She would wear it proudly, to show everyone who she belonged to.  
"Welcome home, dueño de mi corazón. Te extrañé tanto, mi rey. " (.. master of my heart. I missed you so much, my king.)  
Vaas would pull her in, getting his welcoming kiss.  
He could feel the heat gather in his body, as they grew more intense.  
"did you have a good day?" Her voice shivered, while Vaas covered her neck and throat in kisses and gentle, playful bites.  
No answer from him, which was a bit odd, but with his current mood, he probably just enjoyed covering her in affection right now.  
He could feel her hands. One gliding over his back and the other massaging his neck and mohawk.  
A little giggle and soft noises of pleasure, left her.  
Then it was silent again.  
Too silent. 

Her hands where suddenly gone, as if they were never there.  
She was holding them down next to her body, tense.  
“I want you. Now.” His own voice sounded cold.  
It felt weird. He would have imagined himself to sound more playful.  
“C-corazón.. i.”  
Not only her voice shivered, but her entire body did.  
It wasn't out of anticipation. It was from Pain.  
He drew blood from a particular hard bite, on her collarbone.  
Why exactly did he just do that? 

Yes, Vaas enjoyed love bites, they were fucking great! The blood wasn't the problem either, he could get carried away sometimes, sure, but the place he just bit, was directly on the bone.  
That was way more painful, than what he was going for.  
Not to mention, how she would still be in pain, during every move of her arm, unil the bruise was gone.  
His hands were gliding over her, bruising with every touch.  
Not in a loving, controlling or dominant way.  
He was purely out to hurt her, as much, as he could, while still selling it, as a 'lovely touch'.  
He liked it.  
It was like a cold shiver, went down his spine.  
Something changed.  
Something about this, was very wrong.  
Vaas wasn’t actually controlling the motion.  
He wasn’t controlling what he thought and felt.

"D.. Don't you want to eat first? The food will get cold and i know how much you hate it, when it gets cold."  
That wasn't true.  
Vaas didn't mind it, when his food was cold. It was inconvenient, sure, but as long as it still tasted good...  
Still, he could hear himself growl at her.  
"What did you cook?"  
He sounded knowing, didn't even try to hide it. 

Vaas could feel something wet hit his cheek.  
Why was his nena crying and why did he like it so much?  
Down in the nape of her neck, he could feel and smell it. Heck! He could even taste it!  
Fear.  
She was fucking terrified.  
Whatever she was about to say, terrified her to the core.  
"D.. Deer, mi rey " 

He could feel how his own lips, curled into a sick smile.  
"Why are you crying? Didn't i tell you, to never do that again? I also told you, to never cook that again. I. Hate. Deer."  
What the..? Vaas loved deer! In fact, it was his favorite meat.  
What the fuck was going on?  
This wasn't anything, like what he would imagine.  
Vaas wanted to open his eyes, but he just couldn't.  
Was he asleep? Did he fall asleep, while thinking with a crashing brain?  
"I-i know, but Va-" She didn't get to end the sentence, when the fist collided with her face. 

He watched her stumble backwards against the table. Prepared with 4 plates.  
He didn't have a table like this in his chambers, but he knew where it belonged.  
"You fucking DARE to 'but' me? To speak up against me!? First disobeying my orders and now THIS?! Don't you know your place, woman?!"  
Vaas wanted to punch himself, do anything to wake up, make it stop, because he knew exactly, what was about to happen.  
Fuck.  
His own voice changed to a deep chuckled growl.  
"Because i will gladly remind you of it."

His vision changed.  
It felt, as if he was sucked from his own body.  
Everything got dark and for a moment, Vaas could feel a wave of relief, wash over him.  
He finally realized exactly, what was happening right now and he really, really didn’t wanted to be a part of it.  
He didn’t wanted to see this.  
Not again.  
Not like this.  
Not in this shifted picture of swapped figures.  
The next time Vaas opened his eyes, he was sitting on the couch.  
He was still in his room and this was his couch, but the couch table didn’t match up.  
It wasn't over.  
Fuck.

Vaas had to watch.  
His fucking, fucked up brain was making him watch this.  
He couldn't look away.  
He couldn't move.  
All he could do, was watch how his own body, moved towards her.  
His nena, was leaning on the table, holding her face.  
Thick black inky tears dripped from her chin, as she tried to get further and further away from him.  
Begging, pleading for forgiveness. 

Her voice had changed.  
It was, as if he heard two women speaking over each other, until her last sentence was only the new voice.  
A voice, he hadn't heard in so long.  
"I-i.. I didn't mean to! Please!" 

Why couldn't he do anything?  
WHY, THE FUCK, COULDN'T HE MOVE?!  
He had to do something, anything!  
FUCK!  
Instead, Vaas just sat there and watched.  
Watched how his own body, started to beat her black and blue.  
He just sat there, watching the fist connect with her beautiful face, over and over again. 

When she fell to the ground, after a few punches, he kneeled over her, continuously beating her face and upper body.  
His form called her all sorts of things, always reminding her, that she was worthless, just his wife and nothing else. 

How she was no good.  
The concubine did a better job in keeping the house together.  
His mistresses were better fucks and all she was, was worthless and clumsy.  
How he only accepted her, for her name and because their leader begged him, on his deathbed.  
How she should have just died, after her job was done.  
The only thing, he ever needed her for.  
After all, the one task she had, was completed.  
She birthed his son.

How he didn't needed her anymore.  
How not even a single person from the tribe needed her anymore or would even miss her.  
Her bloodline was continued.  
She was useless now.  
Now even her name didn't meant anything, anymore.  
She never stood on top of the black mountain, the ink monsters corpse.  
She was just a woman, not a warrior.  
She didn’t deserve her family's name.  
The voice of his body started to change as well, but he couldn't focus on it.  
It never fully switched and Vaas hated it!  
He couldn't stop hearing his own voice. 

"Isn't it nice?"  
A tug on his arm, made his couch self, turn his eyes away from the brutal scene.  
Next to him, sat a younger Citra, 17 years old, bandaging a cut on his arm.  
She was looking expecting at her, now 15 year old, brother.  
"The witch doctor showed me how to make it. Relaxing, right?"  
"It is great." No it wasn't.  
"Thank you! Our high priest said, i may be her pupil, but learning the way of dream dust, is important for me." 

His eyes looked at the table. On it was a mortar with their holy powder.  
"It isn't real Dream Dust yet, but it is already good to numb your pain. Do you still feel pain, my dear brother?"  
"No." He didn’t feel anything.  
"It makes me so happy, that you like it, brother."  
Why was he still looking at Citra?  
He had to get up!  
He had to do something, to stop this.  
Vaas fought with whatever he could, to get himself moving, but all he did, was grab a handful of the dust and let it run through his fingers.  
It felt so nice.  
He felt nice.  
All while the sounds of violence, next to him, turned wet.  
But he just didn't care.

Didn't care, about the whimpering calls of help, towards him. Calling him, by name.

Didn't care, about the sound of breaking bones. Like her nose or when a fist met the same point on her collarbone often enough or once her ribs started cracking. 

Didn't care, that the air was filled with the iron smell. 

Didn't care, that he, as a young warrior and therefore a proven man, had every right, to intervene the scene. To kill, whoever attacked this woman. 

Didn't care, when the whimpering stopped.

Didn't care, when his older form walked past him, with bloodied hands, while complimenting him on his trophy. The deers big antlers on the table. As if nothing ever happened. 

Didn't care, that he had been sent out, by him, this morning, to specifically hunt for deer. 

Didn't care, when he followed his call, got up from the couch and walked past the body on the floor, towards the table. 

Didn't care, about the shifting picture of dull green and blue eyes, looking up to him, empty, broken and gone. 

Didn't care, that the deer tasted great. Just the way, he always liked it. 

The world shifted around him and yet, he didn't care. 

Only once he sat before the fresh disturbed earth, he could feel himself caring, about what happened.  
He was sitting here, in the Lost grounds, where people of disgrace were buried, far away from their families, trying to focus and understand, why he was sitting here.  
What drove him here?  
He wasn’t quite sure, but something made him come here.  
It made him hurt.  
Young Vaas clutched the green gem on his necklace, in a tight fist.  
A hand found its place on his cheek, leading his face and thoughts away.  
"Are you hurting again, brother?" Her voice sounded so sweet, but so, so disappointed.  
"She deserved this, remember?"  
Citra looked in his eyes, with that sweet smile of hers, opened her hand and blew the dust in his face.  
She stood up and took his hand, getting him up as well.  
“Come on, we have duties to fulfill back home. You shouldn’t be in this place anyway. I can feel the bad spirits, surrounding us, brother.”

Vaas didn’t know, why he looked back, over his shoulder, to the dirt pile, while walking away.  
After all, it was just dirt, right?  
Honestly, he didn't care. 

The cloud of blue smoke, disappeared into the night sky. The air was filled with the nightly sounds, of the jungle.  
A slight breeze, cooled down damp skin, while three drops of water raced their way from wet hair, over a relaxed forehead, cheek, throat, down the naked upper body, until they were absorbed, by loose pants.  
Vaas was lounging on a comfortable garden chair. His feet propped up on the small balconies railing.  
A red and brown book was propped up on his legs, a pencil case in his lap.  
Next to him, on a table, was a bottle of whisky, a champagne glass, holding a certain flower and a glass filled with Ice and the golden liquid.  
His eyes were closed, as he french inhaled another deep drag. 

After washing off the cold sweat, Vaas had decided, that he wasn’t going back to sleep.  
This trainwreck was his own fault.  
Sleeping after crashing down from a high, wasn’t good for him and he knew that.  
This one had been very bad, worse than usual.  
Normally, in the rare occasions when a crash actually happened to him, he always countered it, before sleeping, but this time he hadn’t.  
His stupid fucking brain decided to imagine things, he didn’t wanted, before he could get anything in his system, to prevent it.

The sun was going to rise, in about two hours.  
Even if he would go back to sleep now, which should be fine, it would be to short.  
Vaas would just feel unrested.  
So instead, he opened his eyes and placed his second joint, for this evening, between his lips.  
The first one was to counter the crash, bringing his mind back to where it was supposed to be.  
Now, all the good things about the evening returned and outshined everything else again.  
Like it was supposed to be. He was feeling good again.  
None of his dark thoughts survived this attack of high quality THC.  
The second one was built with a lot more tobacco.  
That one was just to keep him up and enjoy the taste for longer.

The book was opened, a few pages were flipped, until he found an empty one.  
Vaas had to chuckle a bit.  
There had been the urge, to get something in his system, but the day hadn’t given him the opportunity to do so.  
But even that withdrawal felt completely different, from what he had experienced earlier.  
He crashed this hard, just after leaving his Nena.  
What did that mean?  
Was he just pathetic or was this feeling, this need to know her with him, just that strong?

It didn’t matter right now.  
What mattered was the empty page before him.  
He would catch up on some sleep tomorrow evening.  
It wasn’t like one night without sleep, was going to kill him.  
Also he wasn’t the one, who had to deal with his grumpy, ‘didn’t sleep’-self.

Now which pencil, was going to start his new projekt?  
Vaas had some great ideas in his mind. During the cold shower, he had been struck with inspiration.  
There were some problems on the horizon and with the sun, he would have to deal with them again, but right now?  
He just didn’t care, as the first line was drawn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was something, i waited quite a while to finally type out.  
> It did get a lot darker than what i originally planned, but i am actually pretty happy about it. It seems fitting.  
> Big thanks to VnzlHills, for the help with the spanish! 
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. :)


	21. Restless nights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Triggerwarning for this chapter:  
> \- Violence against minors. (Teenager)  
> Proceed with caution.  
> Aside from that, enjoy!

Right now, Vaas wanted nothing else, but to make a little detour up to the mansion.  
Just a quick hello. Only to see, how his Nena was doing, if she was ok.  
Something, anything, to satisfy that need, of knowing her close and safe.  
Vaas wanted more.  
He needed more.  
This deal was going to be his end.  
Both deals would he his end.  
He wanted so many things.  
It felt like, even just a simple smile, would make his day.  
It would get him close enough to the high of emotion, he felt with her yesterday. 

But his queen had to focus on her work.  
This week would either make or break everything, he had prepared. 

So instead of following that need, he was sitting backwards on a chair, holding up a camera.  
Vaas elbow was resting on the back, keeping the picture steady, as he made the quivering mess in front of him, repeat the message for the third time.  
“Come on. Just fucking what we practiced!” 

Usually, Vaas liked to be mobile with the camera.  
Crouch around and get the perfect angle.  
He would encourage his captives with sweet compliments for their acting abilities and play with them, during the shoots. 

Today was different.  
There were so fucking many new captives, to take care of. After the first 3 videos, Vaas had lost his drive.  
The missing sleep and the frustration of missing his nena, were dragging his mood down.  
It didn't help, that the 6th video had been a boy, maybe 10, that couldn't get a single sentence out without crying and weeping. It took nearly 45 minutes and too many breaks for Vaas to blow off some steam, to shoot that one video. 

This guy? Video number 11? He fucking sucked!  
A whiny 27 year old.  
What was he whining about?  
Well instead of saying, what he was supposed to say, Hector here decided it would be a good idea, to talk about his little girlfriend.  
How his family should make sure, that his angel was getting out.  
To help, if her parents couldn’t afford the ransom, even if it meant sacrificing himself and bla bla bla...  
Normally, this kind of shit would be something Vaas respected. A bold move. Protecting your loved ones at all costs.  
Unfortunately, Vaas was already pissed at this guy. 

Earlier, outside the recording area, every. single. time. Vaas would go out or a new captive was brought in, he could hear this guy and his little bitch of a girlfriend talk.  
Not only, did they ignore the orders to stay fucking silent, even after the guy got beat up by his men, no, they just had to keep swooning to one another. 

How happy they were, to see each other again, after being separated for days.  
How they would make it out of this nightmare together.  
How everything would be fine.  
And, what annoyed him the most, the constant talk of how much she loved him. 

This bad excuse of a man was showered in this womans adoration, even in the bleakest of situations.  
Usually, that just meant more possibilities, to mess with the both of them, but right now it made him furious.  
How fucking dare this piece of shit get, what Vaas wanted so bad? 

And again, he drifted off, towards the 'save her, not me’- bullshit.  
Fine.

".. No. Nonono. no. Listen.” He somehow couldn’t stop himself from letting out a single, annoyed laugh.  
“The first time, it's funny. Ok? The FIRST time.. It is pretty fucking funny. I admit that. Now the second time.."  
Vaas got up, letting the smile disappear from his face, as he kicked the chair across the room and walked the two stepps, to place the camera on a tripod, still recording.  
"The second time, it gets fucking annoying, but no. I was pretty fucking nice, wasn't I? I fucking ignored you, messing with me, twice, hermano. TWICE! All good things come in threes, right?"  
The fucker started to shake in his chair, as Vaas came closer to him, knife drawn. 

"You wanna play hero, hu? You wanna FUCKING DIE?! Don't want your people to fucking pay for your life? Do you?"  
With his head on eye level and a hand on Hectors shoulder, Vaas could watch this guy starting to cry in fear, apologizing rapidly, but he ignored it.  
"Because in that case.. you are fucking worthless to me."

The floor was red, when Vaas left the recording area.  
Behind him, on the chair, sat the cut open body.  
"Now. Does anyone else want to play fucking hero?!"  
The wet sounds of organs and intestines, that were slowly falling out of Hector, hitting the ground behind him, were echoing through the cave.  
“YOU ARE ALL MY BITCHES! I. fucking. OWN. all of you! So SHUT THE FUCK UP or I’ll slice you open, like this fucking worthless PIECE OF SHIT!"  
The room with the cages, was dead silent, as he stepped through.  
Not one captive dared, to look directly into his eyes.  
Even the tiger, in one of the cages, knew better, than to challenge his authority now. Instead it hid in the corner of its cage, making itself look small.  
"Limpia esta mierda! (clean this shit up!)" The pirate, Vaas barked at, flinched for a second, before he hustled over to the chair. 

After that trainwreck was finally over, it was time for a break.  
Vaas was sitting under one of the fabric roofs, between the few buildings, outside of the cave, trying to calm down and enjoy the weather and the silent crashing of waves.  
Trying.  
His fingertips where twitching a little and his tongue felt dry.  
In the rather small timespan, of just these few hours that Vaas were here, he had smoked a good 10 Cigars in quick succession. 

To calm down, keep himself from snapping and killing too many captives, before the videos were done.  
Afterwards they were usually fair game.  
Unless they were already planned as merchandise for Hoyts business, that was.  
Those ‘stress cigars’, of course, came to the cost, of not taking the time, to enjoy his smoke breaks.  
Now he was out and he hadn't brought that many with him today, because this shit was supposed to be done already!  
He still had 5 more to do, before he could call it quits for today.  
There was one more kid too and Vaas really wanted to skip it, but no. Those little fuckers were expensive as hell. In ransom and as merchandise, so he really had to keep it together for those.  
This day just wasn’t going to get any better wasn’t it? 

It seemed, like he was about to be proven wrong, because next to him, a familiar silhouette appeared.  
The distinct sound of a lighter reached his ears, then a silent crack, followed by a black pack of cigarettes entering his peripheral vision and the smell of mint and menthol filling the air.  
Vaas just couldn’t fight of a grin, as he gladly accepted the offer and took one of the cigarettes, lighting it immediately.  
Carlos just nodded and they shared a few drags in silence. 

“Tonces... Cómo te fue ayer? (So.. How was yesterday?)"  
This was something, Vaas really liked about Carlos.  
The ability to sound bored and 'just asking so you can show off', while in truth, Vaas knew exactly, that his right hand man was burning to know, what was going on.  
"Disculpa otra vez por la interrupción, jefe. No quise interrumpir la... Cosa... Que está haciendo. (Sorry, again, for the interruption, Boss. I didn't mean to disturb you at your.. thing.. you're doing.)"  
He was always careful, not to dig to deep into any of Vaas personal affairs.  
It just wasn't any of his business, so he tried to sound like he didn't actually give a fuck about it.  
You know? Don't stick your nose in things you shouldn't.  
Vaas respected that.

Also he knew how to read him.  
Carlos could pinpoint Vaas mood 7/10 times. Which was a whole fucking lot, compared to everyone else.  
Like now.  
He noticed, his boss was tense, for some reason, so he offered a smoke.  
But it wasn't just any cigarettes, no.  
It was the 'good shit', how Carlos would call it.  
Wasn't often, that they got some of these menthol cigarettes or this ‘Click and Roll’ shit.  
Vaas himself wasn't the biggest fan of them.  
He always got a headache afterwards.  
But when they did get some, through captives or new men arriving, his best man was always the one, to snatch them up.  
Carlos would probably shoot someone, if they touched his stash of these things, to be honest. 

Thinking about it, it was fucking hilarious.  
Carlos, right hand man to a pirate lord, who was surrounded by drugs, slavery, torture and murder, all day, called menthol cigarettes 'the good shit'.  
And yet people said Vaas was the psychopath.  
At least he stuck to the actual 'good shit' and not something that tastes like mint gum, that got dragged across the ashtray!  
Still, after half of the cigarette was finished, Vaas also pressed down on the filter, to crack open the capsule, releasing the menthol taste.  
And, who would have guessed, it still tasted like shit.

"It went good." His Nena had said, not to tell anyone, but Carlos already knew already.  
So, no harm done, right?  
"Had a nice evening. Good conversation.. Found out a bunch of interesting shit.."  
It was funny to see Carlos face curl into a semi grin.  
He was good at hiding it, but not good enough.  
“That's nice to hear, Boss.”  
He got a few complimentary nods from his right hand.  
"You've really put a lot of effort into that entire.. How did you call it? Date-shit?"  
Yes he did. 

"Sí. And Carlos, hermano, let me tell you.. The effort was absolutely worth it. This shit is a lot more fun, than i expected."  
Vaas couldn't stop the big grin on his face.  
“So there is more to come, in the future?”  
“You can bet your fucking ass on that.”  
A chuckle escaped him, before Vaas flicked the butt of his cigarette into the sand.  
"You also better be fucking aware, that I will cut your ballsack off, if you tell anyone about this or her for that matter.”  
In the corner of his eyes, Carlos visibly tensed up for a second, during his change of tone, thinking about his answer to Vaas threat.  
"No sé de quién o qué coños estás hablando. (I don't know who or what the fuck you are talking about.)"

Vaas stood up and put an arm around Carlos shoulder.  
"Good, good. See? That’s why i like you so much, Carlos! You just know exactly what to say, to make me happy. Lo juro, si la cagas, tendré tu cabeza. (I swear, if you mess this shit up, i will have your head.)"  
He was close enough, to hear his right hand swallow.  
"No pasará. Los otros dos se callarán también. Me aseguraré de eso. (Won’t happen. The other two will shut up too. I will make sure of it..)"  
Right, he nearly forgot about his scouts.

"Great! Now that, that is settled, let's get the rest of this shit over with!" 

The sun was gone for maybe half an hour, when Vaas let himself fall into the sheets.  
For the next few nights, he was staying in the outpost of Orphan Point close to Pirates Cove, as there were still a bunch of videos to record.  
It was a rather small outpost, but he still had his privacy in a separate room.  
Usually it would be way too early for him, to go to bed, but after over 37+ hours of being awake, he was actually feeling tired. Mind and body. 

Sleep came fast.  
All he had to do was blink once and Vaas could already feel the soothing darkness take over. 

Thick fog surrounded the way up the heavy stone steps before him.  
With each step, the echoing sound of Vaas bare feed filled the area.  
The air was thick and humid, but breathing felt easier than ever.  
He felt free as a bird.  
Joy and anticipation were his wings.  
Still, his face was as neutral as a stone.  
Vaas couldn't show these childish emotions now.  
Not with everyone watching.  
So he pressed on, past the figures that stood at each side of every 3rd stepp.  
When he got close to them, they would bow down and go to their knees, whispering their blessings and wishes towards the gods. 

He felt so happy.  
This was his moment to shine.  
Not some glory of his sister and not another praise to the warrior that 'trained' him.  
This very moment, finally, belonged to him and him alone.  
Nothing could take this away from Vaas.  
Neither that stupid white band of cloth, over his shoulder down to the opposite hip, nor the annoying voices next to him, talking shit towards made up gods.  
Not even the itching from the red paint, that was spread all over his body, could take his mind away from this.  
The last step was climbed and Vaas found himself at the top of the temple. 

The sight before him was too much, to keep a straight face.  
His beautiful bride stood there in front of the stone slab altar.  
She looked so out of place, compared to the darker skinned women, stepping away from her.  
Glowing like a grain of rice on a black piece of paper, as radiant as a goddess.  
She waited for him.  
A short, ceremonial skirt and the red paint on her sun kissed skin, was all she wore.  
You nearly couldn't see the markings on her face, with how deep she blushed.  
She looked amazing.  
Strangely, all he could make out from her upper body, was the paint.  
His eyes couldn't focus on anything else. 

Then their eyes met.  
Those blue diamonds were looking back at him, with a mixture of happiness, adoration, but also a hint of that shyness and shame.  
Her twitching hands and arms, bound together with the most beautiful flowers of the jungle, wanted to go up and cover herself, but that was forbidden.  
It would be seen as an insult towards the gods and ruin the ceremony.

It should annoy him, that she obviously thought about it, but yet, it made him feel even better.  
This discomfort wasn't for him.  
It was for the other people around them.  
She didn’t like it, that others could see her, exposed like this. It was a sight, only meant for him.  
A single motion of his hand and all the priests, warriors and maidens left them alone.  
Fuck, he really loved that power.  
All he had to do now, was share the white band, cut the flowers and claim his bride, as his own.  
With a short, happy sigh, Vaas walked over to her. 

The second, his foot touched the ground, after the first step, a heavy gust of wind blew from behind her, forcing him, to shield his face.  
Thick, black clouds darkened the area.  
The temperature dropped, causing the hair in his neck to stand up.  
A single crash of lightning and thunder, deafened him for a second.  
Heavy rain fell onto the scene.  
His focus was at the altar again. 

Black tendrils made from ink, held his queen in place.  
Behind her, on top of the stone slab, an inky shadow, in the form kneeling of a woman, appeared.  
The figure gripped Liz hair and pulled her head back, setting a blade to her throat.  
"Oh Vaas…" The shadows dripped from Citra's body, until she was fully there, looking at him disappointed.  
There rain seemed to phase through them, as they both looked dry.  
"You were supposed to clean your bloodline. How many times do i need to tell you this, until you understand?"  
He had to watch how the blade slowly made a shallow cut, drawing little droplets of blood.  
"You are MY warrior Vaas. Your goddess called for you, but you ran away like a coward! Now you take this.. This outsider?! I won’t let you do that to me, Vaas."  
Out of nowhere, at least a dozen of warriors appeared, tackling him down and holding Vaas face up, forcing him to watch. 

He was wearing his usual attire again, the same for his Nena, but both their weapons were gone.  
She squirmed in the inks grip, trying, desperately, to get her throat further away from the blade.  
A disappointed laugh left Citras cursed mouth.  
Her voice changed into the shriek yell, of a hag.  
"You were supposed to love me! To choose me! There can't be anyone but ME!"  
Vaas roared, fighting all the hands, holding him down, as she set the knife back, ready to cut. 

Something in him broke, when his eyes met those diamonds again.  
Tears streamed down the soft features of her face, as her mouth formed a silent plea.  
“Help me.”  
The knife went through Liz throat, like soft butter and she collapsed to the ground.  
He could see her trying to reach out for him, before her eyes went empty.  
With one final roar, of desperation and hurt, a bolt of lightning crashed into the temples top and everything went dark. 

To say, that passing the 55 hour mark with no sleep, aside from short 15 to 30 minute nightmares, sucked, was an absolute understatement.  
Vaas could barely focus on anything.  
He had moods wings and his head started to fuck with him.  
It was just like back, when he first found out about his angel.  
Just that this time, Vaas not only couldn't sleep for long, but every time his eyes were closed, he could see her dying.  
Citra, Jason, any Rakyat really.. Fuck even his past self.  
They all killed her in different ways.  
All because of him. 

Of-fuckung-course the Rakyat woul go after her, the second, they would find out about them.  
They wanted Vaas to suffer and die.  
If Citra was to find out, about his love for this woman, she would make it slow and painful.  
How, the fuck, did he not think about that sooner?  
When his Nena first mentioned it, it hit him like a sucker punch, but there hadn’t been any time to really let it sink in yet. 

Even the mere thought of it losing Liz, now that he had a chance, to make her his own..  
He couldn’t.  
Yes, Vaas didn’t know her for long, but every time he thought about her, everytime he found out something new, it just felt perfekt.  
Even some of her mannerisms and her talking back to him.  
It was annoying, but at the same time, so intriguing and it just felt right.  
In one moment, he was mad, but the next, it felt like all the things she did, that should anger him, were suddenly ok.  
He just needed to look long enough, to see the true meaning behind these actions and behaviours.  
Like the Tatau.  
At first he was furious, but then, it turned into a sign of shared hate.  
They had so much in common and yet, they were completely different.  
This had to be love, right?  
He just couldn’t lose her.  
Vaas couldn’t let anyone, take her away from him.  
The mere thought terrified him.

It was the reason why, after waking from the this next night's nightmare, Vaas got onto the main land, in a car and drove over to the foot of the hill, walking up, until he reached the mansion.  
This time, it was a mixture of being forced to watch her die and even do it himself, over and over and over again.  
It had felt like he was trapped in that dream for days, but in reality it were just 20 minutes.  
What was happening to him?  
Why did it get worse every night?

Vaas just sat there, staring at the dark building.  
It was silent and safe.  
No Citra, no Rakyat, just the peaceful silence of the night.  
Inside his mind, there was no such thing as peace.  
It was a gruesome fight, of wanting to go inside and see her, feel her, just anything, because FUCK he missed her so fucking much and this mixture of reason, but also fear, fighting against it. 

This could mess everything up.  
How was she going to trust him, if he showed up next to her bed, in the middle of the night, disturbing the much needed sleep.  
He wouldn't be able to just look at her, wouldn't he? 

Vaas had a plan B and C prepared, for the worst case.  
But if he was the one, to mess this week up, those plans were worthless. 

It felt, as if he had a chains around his wrists and neck.  
His queen was standing, just out of his reach, holding the remote, that could extend but also withdraw his restraints.  
They weren't strong.  
Made of something like sugar glass.  
With a single hard tuck, he could shatter them with ease.  
It would be so, so easy to just do it.  
But if he would do that, she would run from him again. 

Vaas could catch her, sure, but if he did, she was never going to be truly his.  
Her body, yes, but he would never be the one living in her heart and soul, no matter what he would do afterwards.  
He wouldn’t have another chance, at being the man, she was giving her love to.  
She would forever deny him, what he truly needed.  
Vaas already realized that at the beach, so why was it still so hard, not to think about it?  
To not just go up there and hold her close?  
Why did this hurt so much?

As much as it warmed his heart, to hear what she wanted to feel at one point, it made him feel helpless again.  
He had to wait.  
Vaas fucking hated waiting.

Not only this, but everything, Vaas thought was a good fucking reason to accept him as her mate, turned out to be a con, for being with him.  
She was right.  
As much as Vaas wanted to deny it, all his money and power only made things harder for them.  
He wasn’t the one in danger.  
If anyone would come for Vaas, he would just kill them.  
Why fight him, when they could attack his heart directly?  
No matter what they did, in the end, Vaas wasn't able to protect her, at every moment, from everyone wanting to harm him, without clipping his angels wings, which she wouldn't forgive him. 

So he just sat there, watching over the mansion.  
He was like a stone statue, not even the heavy rain, that started half-way through the night, made him move.  
He couldn't leave.  
What if someone attacked at night?  
What if someone killed his heart?  
Only once morning was showing its first signs, Vaas returned back to the small island of Orphan Point, where he was originally staying the night. 

81 hours.  
Vaas was fully aware, of what insomnia could do to a person and he had hit the lowest point a few hours ago.  
Normally it was funny to watch someone fall into that hole, but not when it was himself..  
Thank fuck to whoever invented amphetamine and the other drugs, that were currently keeping him functioning, because Vaas would probably collapse at this point.  
His body ached like never before and his brain felt like mush. 

Everywhere he went, FUCKING EVERYWHERE, HE FUCKING WENT or turned his gaze or attention to or just fucking tried to just FUCKING EXIST, she appeared in some way, shape or form.  
A shadow in the corner of his eyes, the changed voice of a female captive, begging for help and mercy or just a ghost like touch on his forearms.  
It drove him fucking crazy.  
Vaas wanted to cry, but he didn’t allow himself to.

The only upside was, that his hallucinations, paranoia and even thinner strip of patience, caused some amazing ransom videos.  
In his eyes, all of the women started to adopt features of his queen, even the ones, that didn't look like her at all.  
There was no yelling today and that seemed to terrify everyone.  
He just couldn't yell at those eyes…  
Instead, he was surprisingly gentle.  
Calling them pet names and freaking them out, by touching their faces, with featherlight fingers, but returning to his annoyed self, once those hallucinations disappeared.  
There were tears, begging, all important informations were said and they were all done after the first take. 

This night, Vaas woke up, drenched in cold sweat.  
Instead of Orphan Point, this night he decided to stay in the outpost north east of the mansion, the Valsa Docks.  
He needed to be closer to her.  
This definitely had been the worst nightmare of the past couple of days.  
Not because of what happened in it.  
Quite the opposite, actually. 

Vaas couldn't fucking remember anything that happened in his dream and it freaked him out.  
He had no idea, why he was feeling, the way he was feeling now.  
He was scared.  
The only thing he knew, was that he woke up shivering, as if he was laying in a bathtub filled with ice, drenched in cold sweat, burning eyes, with a wet face and a thick lump in his throat.

The clock said, he slept for a good two hours. That was way longer, than the other nights, but he felt even worse. 

Something was wrong.  
Something was horribly wrong.  
Vaas never thought, he would admit this, but he was fucking terrified.  
Whatever he just dreamed about, made him feel small.  
So, so small and weak, it made him want to hide, like a child.  
He fucking hated everything about this. 

The rain had finally stopped, only lingering in the fresh smell that combined itself with the smell of the jungle.  
You could hear the last few droplets, fall from trees and bushes, giving life to the land.  
With the rain gone, the sounds of the night returned.  
At least that calmed him down a little.

After throwing some water in his face and rough cleaning the cold sweat, Vaas geared up and went outside.  
Something bad was happening, he knew it.  
He had to check on her. 

The night guards of the outpost, didn't question, why Vaas would leave the camp, on foot, in the middle of the night.  
They knew better.  
Hopefully the caffeine pill he took earlier was kicking in soon.  
He had been so out of it, he forgot the amphetamine at Orphan Point.

Shortly after Vaas had crossed the radio tower, on his way to the mansion, something moved in the shadows.  
He could feel the eyes, before the sound had reached him.  
There was a person, crouched, between bushes, about 30 meters from him on the left side.  
A rather small patch of foliage between the road and cliffside. 

It actually surprised Vaas, that he noticed this figure, in his current state.  
On the other hand, that person did a horrible job, at hiding.  
Vaas had his eyes trained on the figure.  
The way they crouched near the road..  
Was this supposed to be an ambush?  
Sure, it was dark, but they did realize, that Vaas could see them just as well, as they saw him, right?

The closer he got, the more he could make out.  
A man, smaller and thinner than him, no shirt.  
It definitely wasn't one of his men and no standart local either.  
But a single Rakyat, so close to one of the outposts, all alone?  
Another quick scan of the area didn't reveal anyone else, but him. 

It didn't matter.  
He had to get to the mansion. 

At the 10 meter mark, Vaas could make out the general face shape, before the figure ducked behind a tree.  
He looked pretty young. 15? 16? Something along those lines?  
Why, the fuck, was there a fucking teen in this area in the middle of the night?  
He didn't actually plan to fucking ambush HIM, right?  
That would be suicide and honestly, if he didn’t do it, Vaas would keep on walking.  
There were more important things.  
Unfortunately he could hear the anticipating breathing.  
Oh, for fucks sake.. 

As soon as he stepped around the tree, the kid tried to throw himself at Vaas and stab him.  
From the shocked expression on his face, he didn’t expect Vaas to be aware of him and dodge the first swipe.  
After that, he grabbed both wrists and used the momentum against the attacker.  
Vaas pinned the kid against the tree, with one hand holding his wrist, with it the blade away from him and the other pressing the second wrist on the kids chest.  
The empty hand on the chest was twisted to face the same shoulder, rendering any try, to push him away, useless.  
The first good look, revealed a few things about this young guy. 

Very short shaved black hair, definitely around 16 years.  
Dark brown eyes, filled with determination, anger and confidence.  
He was somewhat muscular, but definitely on the weaker side and about a head smaller than Vaas.  
His upper body and arms, were covered in red paint.  
The symbols were slightly disturbed, from the days rain, but you could still make them out.  
Dozens of red sharks in different forms and sizes.  
This kid, was on his fucking hunters tial.  
The ceremony, that would make you a man and determine your future life.

The rules of the trial were simple.  
As soon, as the Warrior, training a young man, saw him fit for it, he would sent out the youngster to hunt a certain animal all on his own.  
All he got was a knife, a Bow and one arrow.  
The Animal was chosen by the Warrior training him.  
The more dangerous it was, the more respect you and the one training you, would get afterwards.

There were 3 different outcome possibilities.  
Return with the kill, earn your first tatau and become a fully respected warrior.  
Return empty handed and be deemed unfit.  
And the third option: Die during your hunt.

The red paint markings were your blessing and your curse.  
They were supposed to give you strength, focus and symbolise your goal.  
It was seen as a blessing from the gods, protecting you and yada, yada, lies and bullshit.  
But on the other side, it was also a marking to show, that nobody was allowed to help you.

That aspect of the rules went as far as, if you would bring home your kill and collapse on the temples doorstep, they would let you die, because the trial wasn’t over, until the kill was presented to the leader and high priest inside the temples sanctum. 

Usually all this was supposed to happen around 16 years old or later, depending on whoever trained you.  
Usually.  
Vaas had finished his trial just three months before he turned 14.  
Therefore he became the youngest to ever attempt and finish this ritual successfully in Rakyat history.  
Accepted as a grown man and warrior of his tribe and able to hunt whatever he wanted alone.  
Not to mention everything else, that came with being considered an adult.  
Back then, they called him a true prodigy, worthy of his name and bloodline. 

The last rule of the Hunters Trial, was something, this kid seemed to have forgotten.  
You were not allowed to hunt anything else, but your selected prey.  
The only exception were small animals for food, if you need multiple days.  
So what was this kid doing?  
Vaas was bigger and heavier than him and with the current grip, he had on this kid, there was no escape, no matter the struggle.

"Now.. What the fuck, was this supposed to be?"  
The kid kept struggling against him, trying to pull his hands and the knife free.  
“I asked you a fucking question!” Vaas really wasn’t in the mood for this shit.  
“What the fuck was this? I was barely paying any fucking attention and you just think you can go ahead and pull this shit on me?! Do you have any idea how fucking RUDE that was?” 

"I'll kill you! And then all have to respect me!"  
This kid sounded way to full of himself.  
What? Did he really think, that this would work?  
He even kicked Vaas against the shin, but with this angle and no shoes.. well.  
It stinged a little bit, for a single second, but aside from that, it was very much useless.  
“You were supposed to be our leader! The legendary warrior! But all you are, is the incarnation of the Ink monster! You are nothing but a coward, hiding behind guns!”

"Oh, really?"  
This kid wanted to actually go through with it and kill him?  
As if, he fucking could.  
Also, did this little bitch just fucking insult him?  
"I'll cut your heart out and bring it to Citra! She'll make me the greatest warrior. Then I'll be the legend! I'll prove myself to our goddess!"  
Vaas removed the pressure from the tree and pushed the kid away, hard enough, for him to fall on his ass. 

While the boy got up, Vaas took his knife out.  
Sure, he could just shoot this guy and go on his merry way, but that would alarm the outposts and, even worse of a thought, it could wake up his Queen.  
The mansion was only a beeline of, maybe, 200 meters away.  
On foot it was more, but the sound of a gun traveled far. 

Vaas was officially pissed off.  
He wasn’t hiding behind guns!  
They were just a lot more efficient and a shit ton of fun!  
This little fucker, didn't even know, what the fuck he was talking about!  
He didn’t know shit about Vaas.  
He didn’t know shit about being a warrior.  
He didn’t know shit about his, oh so great, ‘Goddess’!

"So you want to kill me? You wanna be my bitch of a sisters little hero?"  
He couldn't stop himself from laughing.  
There was even more rage building in his enemy's eyes, but he wasn’t any different.  
"I won't let you talk about our goddess that way!"

There were so many confusing emotions bubbling in Vaas head.  
It felt so familiar.  
This kid wanted to be the perfect warrior?  
He had no fucking clue, what that even meant!  
He had no idea..

He wanted to be a man and challenge him?  
He wanted Vaas to treat him, like a warrior?  
Attacking someone, over 10 years older than him, with years over years more in experience and murder.  
Just for this stupid bitch?  
Running into certain death.  
All for a lie?

What else was Vaas supposed to do, but open his arms wide, inviting, knife ready in his hand. 

He was going to free this poor fuck.

Vaas was going to save him.

"THEN FUCKING COME AT ME, YOU LITTLE BITCH!" 

With a battlecry, the 'warrior' charged him. 

The first strike came from the top left.  
Vaas didn't even need to think, as he blocked it.  
He pushed his left arm under the wrist, stopping the attack dead in its tracks, to a surprised face of his challenger.  
He looked even more surprised, when Vaas jammed his knife into the blocked forearm.  
With a hard twist of the blade, the loud crack of the bone, was drowned out by a pained scream.  
He pulled the knife back out and pushed the, now broken, arm away.  
It was followed by a left hook, right in the face, sending the boy to the ground. 

“What's wrong ‘warrior’?” Vaas spat that word, while he stalked around the lying figure, clutching its arm.  
“I thought you wanted to kill me? GET THE FUCK UP AND FUCKING KILL ME!” 

It took a short moment, until the kid fought himself back up on his feet.  
Knife in the left hand, the right hanging down, bleeding heavily.  
The cocky face was gone, replaced by terror and fear.  
Oh NOW he realized, he was outmatched?  
Well too fucking bad!

"You wanna be a fucking warrior? You think, you can kill a man? Hm? You think killing one fucking man is gonna be enough? No, nonono, no. It is never enough! No. IT’S NEVER FUCKING ENOUGH FOR HER!" 

Vaas stopped circling him and waited for the next attack.  
A wide and clumsy slash.  
It really wasn’t hard to dodge him.  
Desperation and fury joined the face, as he was charged with an angry roar.  
Vaas just stepped out of the way, while the kid swung at him over and over again, like the insane fuck he was. 

This was fun. 

Bloodlust was something so fascinating.  
As sad and infuriating as it was, to see this piece of shit being manipulated, by that bitch.  
It didn’t matter how angry he got about it.  
It was so much fun, to crush that confidence and spill the blood on the floor.  
The smell, the feeling of the red liquid on his skin, the sight, the emotions.. this immense rush of superiority.  
It was intoxicating.  
No wonder, that it didn’t take much, to get addicted to it.

They had made it over to the cliffside, when Vaas suddenly stood his ground again and took the attack head on.  
The knife only grazed his shoulder, leaving a small cut, when the ‘warrior’ practically ran into him, surprised by his sudden stillness.

Two big brown eyes stared up at him in shock.  
All Vaas could do, was look at him, with a wicked smile, once the kid started coughing blood on his chest.  
One step back, revealed the hunting knife, that he had held forward, letting the boy run directly into it.  
It was stuck around where his stomach would be and probably even hit the kidney, if Vaas was to guess.

He ripped it back out, making the cut bigger in the process and plunged it into the left shoulder.  
“Do me a favor and hold this for a moment.”  
His opponent dropped his own knife and didn’t even get the time to tumble backwards, as the fist connected with his face again.  
Following the loud crack, it broke his nose and sent the boy, once again, to the ground. 

The small cliffside revealed a little makeshift camp.  
Probably the place this idiot wanted to spend the night, before he made his last, big mistake.  
It was pretty well set up.  
A little hideout made of leaves and branches, a very small, unlit, campfire and the bow with one good and multiple crafted arrows, made from literal sticks and stones.  
A bow and arrow…  
Fuck.  
This little bastard distracted him!  
Vaas had fucking places to be!

Next to his feet, on the floor, there was sobbing.  
This bitch was fucking crying and whimpering.  
“She said i could do it… The monster from the lotus pond… Why can’t i..”  
Stupid kid, still believed in all that shit.

Vaas listened to the sounds for a moment, before he had to chuckle again.  
This was so silly.  
Pathetic even.  
"You know, maybe you’re right. Maybe i am the monster. I mean, who fucking knows?"  
The young warriors face transformed into a silent scream, as Vaas stepped on his broken arm.  
He was leaning on it, while crouching down.  
"But you wanna know what i am not?"  
The face looking up to him was broken. Blood, snot, tears and spit. All mixed in a look of defeat and pain.  
"A fucking shark." 

Vaas ripped his knife out of the boys shoulder and dragged him up, with the broken arm.  
This little bastard could barely stand.  
All of this situation was her fault.  
This young man would have minded his own fucking business, like he was supposed to, if Citra wouldn't have fucked his head.  
It was always her.  
She ruined fucking everyone and everything.

"You're supposed to kill a fucking shark, hermano! You can't even fucking do that! But you know what? I feel generous. I'll help you out."  
With a hand around his shoulders, Vaas walked the last two steps towards the cliff, dragging the kid with him.  
You could barely see the where the rock met the ocean surface. 

"See? There is a hole bunch of those fuckers down there. Just go and kill one."  
He let go of him to get something.  
The 'warrior' or more wannabe man, was standing at the cliff, barely holding himself upright and on his feet, with a dead stare towards the shark filled ocean.  
This cliff was a mating ground for bull sharks.  
Not the best place of choice to hunt a single one, being one hunter all alone, but it was the hunting ground, the kid chose.  
"Killing a shark is easy, you know. Just cut open the gills or gut them."  
Vaas had picked up the kids knife and returned to his side.  
"Under whose wing were you, if he didn't even teach you, how to hunt a fucking shark, hm?"

Silence. 

"You're so fucked, hermano. She's in your head, isn't she? Fucks with your mind. I decided, that i am going to let you learn from your mistakes. I wouldn't have attacked you, you know? You're not a fucking threat to me. What was it? Rule number 4? Pick your fights?"  
Brown eyes looked up to him empty, broken and naive.  
"I forgive you. This fucking bitch, Citra, made you do this. This is all her fault."  
He gestured to the boys, broken, body.  
"She made you fuck it up. She made you distracted, from your hunt. Citra wants you to fail your fucking Tunters Trial. Do you realize that now? Do you see what you did wrong?"  
A nod.  
"Don't let her win. You can still do it. Kill one. Size doesn't even fucking matter. Just kill one shark and I'll be happy, to announce your trial a success.”  
Vaas shoved the knife back into the kids hand.  
“I’m giving you a generous choice here, hermano. Jump down there, make me proud and die like a man or just stay up here and die like the fucking disappointment, that you are. Hm? What will it be?" 

When Vaas finally went on, on his way to the mansion, he was soaked with blood.  
The fucking wannabe chose wrong.  
He fucking tried to stab Vaas again, cutting his side and even bit him in the shoulder.  
All while constantly muttering about his warrior goddess.  
The cuts were shallow. He wasn’t able to dodge everything.  
His exhausted muscles didn’t let him. 

It wasn't that Vaas was mad or felt bad for killing this piece of shit.  
He was just disappointed and dissatisfied. 

Citra had too much control over all of those fuckers.  
She was desperately trying to recreate him.  
Recreate the beast, to hold its reins.  
To control it.  
Control him.  
All of the warriors, all of the entire Rakyat, young and old, were so desperate, for her fucking attention, causing them, to run blindly into their deaths.  
Fuck generosity.  
Next time, he found someone like this kid, he was just going to kill them right away. 

Tonight the stepps up to the mansion felt heavier.  
He was so fucking tired.  
The caffeine didn’t help much at all and as easy, as the fight was, he still moved a lot and wasted a ton of energy.  
Energy he didn’t have.  
Everything burned.  
He wanted to sleep, so fucking much, but he couldn’t.  
Just the mere thought of it, scared him.  
All he needed was to make sure the mansion was safe.  
Then he would feel better.  
He had to…

Only a few more steps...

The old building was dark and silent.  
What a relief. 

Walking over to his spot from last night, Vaas noticed something unexpected. 

There was the slightest flicker of light, coming through the greenhouses windows, accompanied by a silent mumble of words.

Fuck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big thanks to VnzlHills for the spanish parts!  
> This and the last Chapter, originally, in my chapter skript, were supposed to be just one chapter called "The mad kings suffering", buuut once again, it turned out to be a lot more words than what i planned. :D  
> Just as a little insight into my general writing progress:  
> There won't be such a thing as like an upload scedule, for this fanfic.  
> I will upload, when the chapters are done and i am happy with how they turned out.  
> This chapter alone took a total of about 50-55 hours to write. (on phone and PC)  
> I have a hard time concentraiting while writing and take ages to get actuall progress.  
> (wont stop me from doing it, i just wanted to point it out. I still love writing)  
> That combined with having other hobbies, friends, work and some private stuff to take care of too, chapters might take a while to upload.  
> So even if there is a gap of maybe a month or so between chapters, i have absolutly no intend of dropping this story.  
> After all, we didn't even get to the scenes yet, i wrote, before i did the first chapter. ;)  
> There is a lot more to come, it will just take a while. 
> 
> So anyway, this got a lot longer than i expected.  
> Thank you, to everyone who reads this fanfic and enjoys it!  
> Heck even you, the person who maybe dislikes it, thank you too for giving it your time.  
> Everyone have a great day.  
> See you in the next one. <3


	22. Cúrame

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up: I decided to shift the translations to a POV-centered translation.  
> Meaning if the charackter we are following understands something, i will give a translation.  
> Like this you get the full POV experience and can translate the other bits yourself, if you still want to know what they say. :)  
> I recomend reading the chapter once without translation and then either once with or translating the bits without reading again.  
> It's up to however you like it. :)

There was someone inside the greenhouse.  
The door towards the mansion was closed, but the backdoor was just an empty doorway.  
Moving over, as silent as possible, Vaas stepped in through the backdoor. 

"-ich. Dum~ dum~. Das bin ich. Dum~dum~.. Das allein ist meine Schuld~."  
There she was.  
His queen.  
Alone and safe.  
Thank fuck. 

His Nena was sitting, with her back to him, at the table on the opposite end of the room. Silently singing for herself, while working on something.  
The only source of light was the bunsen burner. Bright enough, to illuminate the table.  
Over it, where the beaker would usually be, was a teapot.  
In front of her, on the table, stood a microscope and behind it, leaning on the wall, an open book.  
A few other utensils were scattered across. 

With her position, he couldn't see if she was wearing her hunting knife with her, but her backpack, bow and machete were leaning next to the closed door.  
Somehow this picture stunned Vaas for a moment, as he was taking everything in.

She knew he was here. 

Anyone inexperienced would think otherwise, but to Vaas, there was no doubt in it.  
She might have continued doing what she was doing, but there was just the slightest change in posture.  
Her shoulders were still down in a relaxed position, moving in a normal way, but her muscles slightly tensed up.  
The humming, with little parts of sung words, continued, but she got quieter. 

Surprisingly, she sold it pretty good, by giving the book in front of her, a focused look.  
Leaning forward a bit, placing a finger on the page and making a humming pause for just a second. As if she was reading a line and needed to concentrate on it. 

The scalpel, his Nena was holding, had switched position.

At first, it had been facing forward.  
A steady finger on the top of the blade, keeping it stable and precise.  
The hand had been set down on the table, resting, during her 'reading pause'. 

While her right hand had left the page, grabbed a pencil and wrote something, rather quickly, on a piece of paper, her left hand had slowly and carefully changed the grip on the scalpel.  
She was holding the blade downwards now, in a full fist, ready to strike. 

Her decoy was an indication that she had no clue who was here with her.  
Vaas already knew she was left handed. He didn't need to see how clumsy it looked for her, to hold a pencil in her right hand.  
It was merely a fast, jerking movement. Meant to catch attention and function as a distraction for the slow movement at her left. 

"Gehör ich hier denn noch dazu? da.. da.. daa~"  
Her quiet humming, faded out with, what Vaas assumed, was the last note of the song. 

Silence.

She was waiting for something to happen.  
But Vaas wanted to wait for a bit longer, just to see what she would do.  
Everything around them blurred out, as if you put water over a freshly painted picture.  
A cloudy tunnel vision.  
The only focus point, all that mattered, sat there before him. 

A page of the book was turned and Vaas could hear her swallow quietly.  
She could probably smell the iron.  
He had nearly forgotten about the blood already.  
After such a long time and countless kills, Vaas was so used to the feeling, it felt like a second skin.  
It felt right.

Compared to all the disappointment, Vaas had felt with that kid, there was a burst of pride rushing through him now.  
It was like art.  
The entire picture in front of him, was like a graciously composed painting.

His Nena understood the situation and adapted to it.  
Instead of getting cocky, she immediately assumed to be outmatched and prepared accordingly.  
Her mind probably gathered all the important information. 

Someone sneaked up on her and was now just across the room.  
That person was a possible danger, probably armed.  
There was the smell of fresh blood in the air.  
Depending on if she heard his stepps or not, she might even know his rough height and weight.  
So she was fully aware about her physical disadvantage. 

The fresh cup of tea that just got poured, steamed with the hot liquid.  
It was a subtle way of arming herself further.  
Smart.  
'I don’t fight. I disengage, before I engage.'  
Those were her words.  
If you weren't an experienced or strong fighter, the element of surprise, could be your best and only chance to topple an attacker.

The cup was a means to stun him.  
It would buy her the needed time, to get out and build distance.  
In the middle of the night and with her skillset, she definitely had a good chance to lose most people.  
Most people, not him. 

Her left hand, still with the scalpel in its position, turned a gear on the microscope.  
While doing so, the side of the blade hit whatever was under the lense.  
A quiet curse.  
A correction of her right hand.  
Another sip of tea.  
After that, her hand stayed on the cup.  
She let her thumb draw lazy circles on it, while she seemed to look at, whatever she had there.

It all looked natural. Like someone working late at night.  
She was patiently waiting for the right moment.  
For his first move.  
This was what an ambush was supposed to look like.  
She gave him a picture of a distracted, defenseless target.  
Acting like she had no clue he was here, but her entire attention and focus were on him and just him.  
Seeming weak and unaware, but in truth, she had a set plan in her mind. 

Even her weapons were masked.  
The one obviously dangerous thing, the scalpel, was in her left.  
The pen was not only a distraction, it was also a setup.  
Same for the scalpel hitting the thing under the microscope.  
She made that hand look clumsy on purpose.  
Many would underestimate her left side like this.  
Actually, many would underestimate her entire physic.  
Vaas would probably too, if he hadn't seen her in action. 

During his chase with her, the elbow hit was hard.  
The most pain was from hitting his wounds, sure, but her reaction time was impressive.  
Or at the beach, when she shot that fishing contraption, with her bow.  
Sitting, with feet in the water, in a relaxed pose and she just knocked that bow back and fired.  
Not a single sign of struggle. 

Her arms may not give it away, but there was power in them, her shoulders and her back too.  
One on one, she stood not a single chance, but if she had a window to surprise you and with that scalpel, she could do a lot of damage.  
It was lighter than a hunting knife and not as long, but blade was blade in this situation.  
He would guess, with her speed in mind and the adrenaline in her system, 2 to 3 quick stabs, before most could even react to her. 

Honestly? Vaas had to admit it.  
Depending on how accurate she was, with an actual arrow, combined with her knowledge and way of moving in the jungle and her ability to seemingly disappear into thin air, this woman might be a better hunter, than most of the Rakyats warriors.  
Heck, she might even be a better warrior than some of those fucks!  
She was most definitely better than this excuse of a man he faced earlier.  
He could really see this small woman out matching warriors that had trained for their entire lives. 

If you told them that, they would probably blame the unfinished tautau on her arm, ‘giving her the strength and wisdom of a warrior’, but it was just ink.  
Vaas didn’t believe in that ‘sign of the gods’ bullshit anymore.  
This was nothing but skill.  
Experience, gathered while she adapted to this place for a mere two years.  
All she did to achieve this, was live, not in, but with the jungle.  
Invite it into her heart and accept its laws, becoming part of it.  
She was using her disadvantages as advantages, by approaching things differently, than he would.

Fuck!  
Now Vaas really wanted to go out on a hunt with her.  
See just how she tracked and hunted her prey and how she killed.  
How would she approach those situations? What was different to him?  
What expression would she wear, while gutting a deer or maybe even a jaguar?  
He had already seen her do it to Fish and Crabs, without batting an eye, but those were small and pretty easy to kill.

On the other hand, would she even go for something as big, as a jaguar?  
She had brought it up in their conversation, that even a single cassowary was too much, to not let anything go to waste.  
Not to mention, that she probably couldn’t transport the entire animal corpse, depending on her prey's weight.  
So no trophy hunts? 

Vaas could see a shiver, going down her spine.  
The charade was crumbling in front of him, as his Angle was slowly taken over by panic.  
How long had he just been standing here?  
How long had he dipped down into his head, just staring at her now?  
Her subtle tenseness was gone and you could see the tension in her upper body.  
Still, she tried to keep the picture steady.  
It made him smile.  
A fighter till the end.

Vaas took a few steps forward until he could see the thumb, on the cup, stop its circling and take its place, ready to throw.  
"Shouldn't you be in bed, getting your beauty sleep?"  
The sigh of sheer relief and change of posture in front of him, dripped down his spine, like warm honey.  
It made Vaas so fucking happy.  
In just an instant, it was all gone.  
The tension, the fear and worry disappeared, replaced by relief.  
Even the air around her changed to relief and calmness. 

"Oh Mann."  
The room was filled with her silent, relieved laughter, as she let her face fall into her right hand.  
"Alter falter, mein armes Herz."  
The scalpel was put down on the table as she started to get up and turn towards him.  
“Do you have any idea how much you just sca-”

The smile was gone in seconds, replaced by a look of shock and horror.  
"Ach du heilige Scheiße.." It was a mere whisper.  
Maybe he should have thought this more through.  
This situation just turned even more interesting, but at the same moment, it terrified Vaas.  
After all.  
How did he look right now?  
How was she going to react to him?  
Just a few seconds ago she seemed relieved that he was here.  
That there was no threat.  
He was no threat.  
But that was ruined now, wasn’t it?

His Queen lifted one hand, to hold it out towards him, just to pull back immediately.  
Panik had filled her eyes.  
They darted over him, across the room and back until they landed on the closed door.  
The second, she bolted, Vaas rushed forward, grabbing her wrist.  
He couldn't lose this.  
He just managed to get to a point, where she was feeling safe around him.  
Even the thought of her running away again..  
Vaas couldn’t take it.

Her head snapped towards her wrist, then back to his face.  
“Du brauchst ein-” She shook her head with closed eyes. “You need a doctor! I’m getting Alec!”  
With a tug, she tried to pull herself free, but Vaas just tightened his grip, keeping her wrist in place.  
There was fear, but also concern and worry in her voice.  
She was worried about him?  
It felt so nice.  
“Vaas, let go. Please. You n-”  
“I’m fine.”  
“You are not fi-”  
“It's not MY fucking blood, Nena. Now calm, the fuck, down!”

Either his words or the annoyed tone, stopped her struggle.  
Liz closed her eyes and, after some failed attempts, managed to take a deep breath.  
She swallowed once, before meeting his gaze again.  
“Ok.” She let go of the doorknob.  
“That.. is a little bit better, but still not good. A-Are you really sure, that you’re not hurt? Because..” Another swallow.  
Was she getting sick, from the smell?  
Or was it the stress of this situation?  
She looked like a deer in headlights.  
“That is a lot of.. and, oh boy.. Alec knocked himself out quite hard earlier.. I mean, if it’s just small stuff, i can probably..” She trailed off into mumbling thoughts for herself, trying to find words.

Liz was willing to take care of him.  
Somehow that thought was intriguing.  
She was, actually, really, worried about his current state.  
A part of his mind didn't like the worry all over her face, but at the same moment he loved the feeling it was giving him.  
This was exactly what he wanted, wasn’t it?  
There was another sudden wave of tiredness slapping him in the face, but he couldn’t pass out now.  
So instead he took a step to close the gap between them.

Vaas placed his free hand on her cheek, causing her to flinch under his caressing touch.  
Her eyes shooting towards his hand on her cheek, that was now smudging it with blood.  
“Aside from a few scratches, I’m just fine. Nothing we would need that old fuck for.”  
He was just tired enough to sway a little, but maybe she didn’t notice it.  
Just as much, as he wasn’t noticing her shivering.  
Only once she took a few more of those deep breaths and the shivering stopped, did he realize something was missing.

“Ok. In that case.. Let’s just.. Um. Could you, you know, let go? It kind of really hurts and I do need that hand.”  
Wait, when did he grab her wrist?  
Right, he did that.  
God fuck, he was so tired…  
In the corners of his vision, inside the blurry tunnel, black tendrils started to squirm around, seeming to try and grab her.  
He really didn’t need that insomnia bullshit now.  
Vaas had to focus.  
He couldn’t fall to this now.  
Not in front of her.

So he just let go and tried to play it off.  
“Just really fucking hate it, when you run.”  
“I wanted to- nevermind.”  
Now she was the one to grab him by the hand, while she opened the door with the other.  
“First things first. We need to get this stuff off of you.” 

All he could focus on was the warm feeling of her hand.  
It was so fragile and soft, warm and caring, but it led him with intent.  
His own troubled mind seemed to come to rest, just by the mere touch of it.  
Like an antidote seeping through his veins.  
He never wanted to let go again.  
The distraction went as far as Vaas not noticing that he had been led into the mansion.  
Only the last two steps ripped him back to reality, as he swayed once more and hit the doorframe with his shoulder.  
It sent a surge of pain through him, but he shrugged it off enough, to not make a sound.  
Looking around, he found himself inside the mansions bathroom. 

It was rather small.  
A shower-bathtub with a room height cabinet next to it, a toilet, a mirror cabinet and another small cabinet under the sink.  
The tiles were a check pattern of stained white and beige orange tiles.  
There was the distinct smell of weed in the air.  
Aslo, if his insomnia brain wasn’t messing with him, some ‘Smokable Happiness’.  
A blend of the doctor.  
Weed and whatever he mixed in there to get you to not only be relaxed, but just feel a lot greater than usual.  
He bought that from the old man from time to time, but he had to have the needed things to make it, so it was a rare treat.  
Honestly? He could really go for some right now.

His Angle had let go of his hand and grabbed a towel from inside the big cabinet, giving it to him.  
“You get this stuff off of you, I go get the first aid kit. Ok? Just.. just give me a moment.”  
With that she wanted to leave.  
“You know where the Doc’s stash is?”  
“Uhm.. no. I.. “ She thought for a moment. “Are you experiencing withdrawal or do you mean painkillers? Is it that bad? On a scale of one two ten how would you rate your pain?”  
Her tries of sounding professional, crumbled.  
He could see her body starting to shake again.  
Vaas hated it.  
He hated seeing her stressed like this.  
“Surprise me. ”  
With an absent nod, she left him.  
Vaas stepped in front of the sink and mirror and took a look at himself.

Fuck.  
No wonder she was so weird.  
He looked like shit.  
His entire torso and arms were covered in splashes, spots and streams of the red warm liquid.  
It was hard to tell where his top even began.  
Right out of a fucking splatter movie.  
There was blood smeared across his face, the handprint of this piece of shit visible over his scar.  
Most of his mohawk had fallen from its grace just like the rest of his entire face.  
Vaas had accepted the dark circles around his eyes a long time ago, but now they seemed even bigger.  
As if they grew with his current state.  
All in all, Vaas just looked like a straight fucking mess.  
A tired, dirty, bloody mess.  
Weak and on his last leg.  
Fucking pathetic.

Worst of all, he let her see him like this.  
He was supposed to be this strong impenetrable wall for her.  
He had to be the perfect man, so she would finally fall in love with him.  
How was that going to work, if he looked like a pathetic piece of shit?

The water ran over his head, starting to wash away the blood, as Vaas leaned down over the sink.  
It was weird to feel bad about being covered in blood.  
It reminded him of old times, when he first learned to love the feeling, but she was obviously terrified. 

Scaring his Queen was not his goal.  
After his head felt clean, he looked back into the mirror.  
Now he just looked tired.  
A pale face streaked with sleep deprivation.  
There was stubble forming on his cheeks and a few wrinkles on his forehead.  
It made him look a lot older.  
Vaas dampend the towel under the faucet and started to clean the blood off of himself.  
Top to bottom, from the neck to even under his fingernails. Just to make sure.  
The shallow cuts on his arms and the bite on his shoulder burnet, once the water touched them.

He should have just turned around, after he spotted her.  
Now she was seeing him weak again.  
As if the beach hadn’t been enough already.  
There was no use in cleaning anything under his clothes.  
There was too much absorbed liquid in them.  
After a good 2 minutes of trying to fix his hair, Vaas gave up and just left the bathroom, throwing the dirty towel in the tub. 

On his way back to the greenhouse, the door stood open and he could see inside.  
The water in the small laboratory sink was running and his queen was standing in front of it.  
Her face was wet and she was washing her hands thoroughly.  
Probably to get the blood off as well.  
“Komm schon, geh ab. Es wird alles wieder gut. Es ist nur ein ganzer Haufen Blut. Nichts schlimmes. Nur.. höchstwahrscheinlich von einem Menschen, der jetzt höchstwahrscheinlich nicht mehr lebt.”  
She did not sound ok, as she scratched over her, already clean, wrist.

“Und es ist ja auch nur der Mann mit dem du etwas angefangen hast, der hier blutüberströmt, mitten in der nacht, aufkreuzt. Das ist ja ist auch nur dein zukünftiger, vielleicht, fester Freund. Dein drogenabhängiger, sadistischer, zukünftiger, vielleicht fester Freund, der solche sachen als Beruf und als herzallerliebstes Hobby macht. Überhaupt nicht tragisch. Du kannst das. Überhaupt nicht verstörend oder so. Es wird alles wieder gut.”  
What was she talking about?  
Her voice sounded close to tears.  
Was she calming herself down?  
What was that language? He heard it a few times already.  
Another splash of water hit her face before she leaned on the sink, focusing on her breathing. 

Once Vaas stepped back in, her eyes snapped over to him immediately.  
Again, filled with concern and worry.  
“Du gefällst mir überhaupt nicht.” It was muttered under her breath, as she took a step towards him and gently placed her hand on his forehead.  
He wanted to lean in on it, but the hand was gone as fast as it was there.  
“At least no fever. That is a plus.”  
Vaas watched her go back to the microscope.  
There was a new opened book next to it and a pack of pills.

“I couldn’t find anything, except some ibuprofen, but..”  
Without waiting for her sentence to finish, he took the pack of pills on the table and immediately threw three in his mouth.  
“..they are 600mg so only take on- and you already took more. Great..”  
She took the pack away from him and put it in a drawer, before she flipped a few pages and looked at something for a moment.  
There was that small, shy smile forming on her face.  
It was hesitant, but whatever she read, seemed to help.

“You know.. you do look like you could use a dose of oxytocin which, luckily, I know how to make. It’s not much, but-”  
“Nena, I would take anything you give me. I don’t give a fuck what it is, as long as it helps.”  
Vaas watched her step away from the table and face him.  
“That is..Good, because i am freaking out and i really, really need this right now.”  
So she wanted to take something with him?  
That was sure to be interesting.  
What would it b-  
Before he could think about that more, Liz closed the gap between them and flung her arms around his torso, without another word. 

It took him a good 4 seconds to realize what was going on.  
A hug.  
She was hugging him.  
Her arms held onto him, tight on his back.  
Her face leaning onto his shoulder and collarbone.  
Ok.  
This was happening.  
She made them sway around a little bit.  
No need to panic.  
He got this.  
Ok, maybe he didn’t.

Vaas wasn’t a hugger.  
Honestly, if he thought about it, did he ever really do this before?  
He had flung his arm around people before, but this was her holding on to him.  
Not in a pained, panicked or lustful way.  
Just nice.  
With intend and power, but so fucking gentle you could think she mistook him for a cloud.  
It was hard to describe the feeling of this.  
But didn’t fucking matter now. 

Vaas' entire body began to relax and just feel better.  
A weird feeling of safety, joy and security just washed over him and he didn’t even need to think, to close his arms around her and let all the tension out in one relaxed sigh.  
This felt so fucking good.  
Shit. He really needed this, didn’t he?  
Why the fuck hadn’t he done this sooner?  
He usually just kicked the woman out, after they were done.  
How stupid of him.  
Imagine how amazing this would feel after getting laid. 

Why was she giving him this now?  
Was it pity?  
He looked like absolute shit.  
But she said, she needed this herself.  
His Nena was actively looking for comfort from him.  
That alone shot another burst of joy through him.  
But what the hell did this have to do with drugs?  
Oxytocin.  
He never heard of that one before. 

They stayed like this for a good minute or maybe five.  
Time was weird when you were tired and feeling good.  
But then, the Angle in his arms started to giggle.  
Not a happy one.  
The kind of giggle when a situation was just desperate enough to be funny again.  
“What?”  
Did he suck so hard at this?  
Did he do something wrong?  
Was he making it worse?  
It felt so good. So why wasn’t she calming down too?

“This was a horrible mistake.”  
That hurt. That one sentence really, really hurt.  
Why was she hurting him like this?  
It made him furious.  
With one step back, Liz freed herself from the embrace and looked up to him, with tears in her eyes and a desperate smile.  
“I should have thought this a bit more through.”  
Her arms, top and part of her face, everything that had touched his clothes, had blood on it.  
It wasn’t much. She wasn’t dripping with it, but it still seemed enough to lock her body into staring at her arms, paralized. 

The building rage was gone.  
His queen wasn’t throwing bones for him.  
She was just scared and freaked out.  
Maybe pulling her into another hug wasn’t the best thing to do in this situation, but it felt right and good.  
“It’s just some blood. You’ll be fine. Creo que te vez maravillosa, nena. El color rojo se te ve muy bien. (I think you look amazing, baby. Red is such a good color for you.)”  
At first, there was a hint of struggle, but she gave in and returned the hug pretty fast.  
“Not like you never had any on you, right?”  
Like on autopilot, Vaas started to carefully glide one hand up and down, over her back. 

It took quite some time, but once they released each other again, Liz looked a lot better.  
Not good, but definitely out of crying danger.  
“Feeling better now, mi corazòn?”  
He received a little nod, before she turned around and begann washing off the blood of her arms and face again.  
“I’m sorry. I.. The last time I had so much blood on me..”  
There was another shiver going down her spine.  
“Let’s just say, it wasn’t the best moment of my life.”

Pressing for more information, would probably just cause her to close up on him.  
“But anyway. My problems aren't important right now.” She turned to face him.  
There was still a small smudge on her cheek.  
“Let’s just focus on- Oh my god, is that a BITE?”  
There was no time to react, before Liz pushed him onto the chair and took a better look at his shoulder.  
“That is horrible! You’ll need stitches. Oh god! Alec is passed out! I don’t know how to do this! There has to be a book or something!” 

While she turned to search through the book on the table, Vaas took the rifle and gear off of himself and slipped his top off.  
If she was going to take care of his wounds, she needed to see them all.  
As much as her freaking out was concerning, it was endearing, that it was about his health. 

After a short while, there was a burning sensation and a sting on his shoulder.  
Vaas eyes snapped open.  
Fuck.  
What the fuck?  
“Are you ok?” Liz was standing behind the chair.  
Next to him, on the table was an opened first aid kit, a propped up book, with the picture of a stitched wound and a bloody towel..  
His torso was mostly clean and there were bandaids over most of his little wounds and a bandage around his abdomen, where the deepest cut was.  
When did she start fixing him?  
When did she clean the blood of him?  
FUCKING FUCK!  
How did he miss that?  
Why did he miss that?  
Did he pass out?

“Vaas?”  
“Yeah, yeah. Everything's fine. Just fucking peachy prefect.” It was a growled answer.  
He fucking missed her cleaning the blood of him.  
It would have been so fucking hot to see and feel!  
“Like i said, if you need a break, please tell me. You don’t have to pretend like you’re not in pain. I won’t laugh. I promise. ”  
Now he could feel the needle, pressing through his flesh, dragging the string behind it.  
“Just one more and it’s over. Keep playing with the stone. It helps.”  
Looking down, there was a stone in his palm.  
A greenish brown with a white band in the middle.  
It was smooth and felt nice in his hand.  
The moment, the needle pierced him again, Vaas had to clench his jaw, to not let any sound out.  
“You’ll be ok. Just a little bit more.”  
The strings movement burned, pressing the wound together.  
With one last tug, the needle was gone and his Nena started to tie the knot.  
“Aaand now we just gotta pack it up.” 

It was a mixture of adoration and annoyance that Vaas felt, while Liz fixed the bandage around his shoulder.  
Every touch was careful, as if he was made of glass.  
On the other hand, it was probably because of that deep blush in her face, everytime she had to take a glimpse down his chest.  
So she liked what she saw?  
Perfect. 

After everything was done, Liz poured some tea in her cup and another one that was near empty and next to Vaas.  
She sat down in another chair that hadn’t been there before either and looked at him, while sipping her tea.  
“Now, where were we?”  
She seemed to think for a moment.  
“Right. Why you came here in the first place. You said, you got attacked randomly on your way here. So, why did you make your way over here in the middle of the night in the first place?”  
Vaas just blinked a few times.  
Had they been talking?  
How much did he tell her?  
He definitely drank some tea with her already, but he couldn’t remember any of it.  
What else was different?  
His top was hanging from a hanger up in the wooden beams of the greenhouse, dripping clear water.  
The straps and assault rifle were still next to him, leaning on the wall. 

“You don’t have to tell me. If you changed your mind and don’t want to anymore. That is fine. Just please don’t torture yourself with these things. Sometimes just talking about something and having someone who listens, can help a lot.”  
Her hand found its place on the bandage on her left arm, that hid the tautau.  
“Believe me. I know what i am talking about. So if you ever need to talk to someone about something, anything, I'm here for you.” 

“Que coños está pasando ahora mismo? (What the fuck is happening right now?)”  
Vaas was so confused.  
He missed a piece of this conversation, but she didn’t notice.  
Not only this, but she was taking what he gave her and asked for nothing more.  
She didn’t exploit his current weakness and confusion.  
What was wrong with this woman?  
“I.. maybe haven’t told you this yet, but i have no idea what you are saying. I don’t speak spanish. Sorry.”  
Her soft and apologetic tone, brought a smile to his face.  
“I’ve noticed that. Kinda like it. Solo significa que puedo decirte cualquier cosa que quiera así. (It just means i can tell you whatever i want like this.)”  
She seemed to think for a second.  
“Maybe, this is actually really good. If you’re uncomfortable with telling me certain things, you could just talk spanish. That way, you can get stuff off your chest, even though i won’t have any idea what you’re talking about! As long as it helps you, i'm good.”

This sounded like a trap. Did she really not speak spanish or was she just out for his secrets?  
He should make sure.  
“Haré que mates a tu familia mañana y después vamos a joder como animales en frente de todos. (I will make you kill your family tomorrow and then we will fuck like animals in front of everyone.)”  
His words were dead serious.

Nothing. Not even a blush.  
Liz was sipping her tea, giving him a supportive smile, as if he just told her about something he was unsure of.  
None the wiser.  
There was no way she wouldn’t react to this.  
So he was actually safe to speak?  
There was no way this actually helped with his sleeping problem, right?  
This was stupid.  
But she looked so supportive.  
Backing out would probably make her sad again.

It was a heavy sigh, that helped Vaas prepare himself to share this.  
“No puedo dormir sin ti. Tengo miedo que ella te matará. Quiero que estés sana y salva. Cada vez que cierro mis ojos, tú mueres y es mi culpa. (I can’t sleep without you. I am scared she’ll kill you. I want you to be safe and healthy. Everytime i close my eyes, you die and it’s my fault.)”  
No reaction. Just another sip of tea and that beautiful smile.  
“Quiero que seas felíz conmigo, que me ames y nunca me abandones. Pero tengo miedo que eso te matará, si lo haces. Que yo te mataré, si eres tú misma. (I want you to be happy with me, to love me and never leave. But I am scared it will kill you, if you do. That I will kill you, if you be yourself.)

The more Vaas thought about it, the more it hit him in the face, like a shovel.  
Her entire being, was a big 'fuck you', to everything the Rakyat wanted to see in a woman.  
She should have been weak, fragile and submissive.  
Depending on him.  
Needing him.  
Instead, she was standing alone, just fine.  
Right now, he was the one who needed her and she was welcoming him with open arms. 

She was resourceful, careful, skilled and deadly.  
One with the jungle, a beast of these lands.  
Taking what she needed, but only what she needed.  
A fighter, hunting for herself, defending herself.  
An established part of this ecosystem. 

On the other hand there was this shy and timid personality.  
Flustered by all his attempts of closeness.  
Soft spoken, open and caring.  
This undying kindness that just screamed 'be with me and never let me go'.  
There was a beast inside, loud and angry.  
Powerful enough to startle him.  
She was in no need to lean on him, but was willing to let him lean on her this very moment.  
Breaking every expectation, that was set for her. 

She wasn't going to bow down to him or to anyone.  
It was such a weird feeling, how much he liked that thought and hated it at the same time.  
A part of him wanted her to be the way she was supposed to be, but he also loved how she was now.  
It made her perfect.  
Fuck that shitty dream.  
He wanted her like this.

“No soporto pensar que te podría perder.(I can’t handle the thought of losing you.)”  
Vaas hadn’t noticed the point, at which he had started holding the cup in one hand and playing with the stone in the other, but it helped.  
A lot.  
Funny enough talking out loud really did lift some weight off his shoulders.  
Looking back up, his Nena was still watching him with that supportive smile, but she seemed tired as well.  
“Why are you still awake, Nena? You look tired. You should go to sleep.”  
Noticing he was done, with the spanish, she let out a happy sigh and started playing with her cup again. 

“I am in a bit of stress myself. I had my first request for a delivery, which you probably know.”  
It was a short nod from him, but it was enough of an answer.  
“Well.. the rain today messed me over a bit. It’s hard to dry stuff, without the sun and when the air is humid like this. As long as there is no rain the next few days, I should still be able to finish on time. And, to not completely lose a day, I decided to prepare absolutely everything, that doesn’t require the drying process.”  
She giggled a bit.  
“I also read an entire book about basic chemicals and their reactions to one another, while preparing stuff.” 

“What are you making anyway?”  
All Vaas was informed of, was that there was an ongoing test of her ability.  
It was part of the deal.  
What it was or how much was unknown to him.  
It made her perk up a bit.  
“Uhm.. well. About that.. Are you aware of something called Firefly?”

“What..” That fucking son of a bitch! He did not..  
“Oh, it’s a powder with ha-”  
“I know what the fuck it is! How fucking much are you supposed to make?”  
He could see Liz getting nervous by his reaction.  
“Um.. quite a lot. 1,5kg. Why? Is that a problem?”  
“That MOTHERFUCKER!”  
The teacup shattered into a thousand pieces against the wall.  
He should have known. 

Hoyt was exploiting the everloving crap out of this deal he strook with Vaas.  
If she succeeded in this testdrive, he was getting a fucking huge sum of money out of it.  
If she failed this, it would result in him still getting a fucking huge sum of money out of it.  
The only difference was from who.  
Of-fucking-course he was doing everything to get as much profit out of this as possible.  
It was Hoyt after all.  
Even worse, Firefly was a designer drug made by Earnhardt and only Earnhardt and Hoyt was therefore the only worldwide provider of it.  
He was making the price.  
Hoyt could very much rise it to a point, where Vaas was powerless to fulfill his side of the deal.  
And even then he was still getting a fair sum of money out of this from someone else.  
The house always wins in the end. 

Liz sat in her chair, like she turned to stone.  
A shocked and scared expression had taken over her face.  
No.  
He couldn’t make her scared now.  
If she was nervous during the process, she could make mistakes and Vaas couldn’t allow any mistakes.  
This had to be perfect.  
She said she would be able to do this.  
Everything was good and fine and fucking dandy.  
No need to panic right away.  
Now all he had to do was explain that things were alright.

“Do you know how much money you’re making this man right now?”  
Vaas couldn’t stop himself from an angry chuckle.  
“No! And i don’t want to know!” She got up from her chair as well.  
“But it seems to be a big problem!”  
Ok. Fuck. How was he getting out of this?  
They just had such a nice moment, but he had to ruin it again!

“It’s actually pretty fucking good! I am just fucking pissed off, that he didn’t tell me about it!”  
It was only half true, but whatever. Vaas was a great liar.  
“So much for ‘I ordered a small delivery.’ Fucking asshole is stressing you out already. Taking up all your time and I don't even get shit out of this!”  
He was wildly gesticulating in front of his queen.  
If Vaas could just displace his anger, she would surely calm down, right?  
Make it sound a lot less, like she was in danger. 

“I am the one, who should take up all your time. I am the one you should be thinking about spending all your time with. Instead this bastard is piling work on you, so I have to show up here in the middle of the night, to even get a fucking glimpse! And what happens? Instead of sleeping soundly, like you should, you sit here working on his bullshit! Mas vale que te tragues esta maldita carnada! (You better be swallowing this fucking bait!) Now I have to worry about your well being again! You promised me to take care of yourself, Nena, but this fucking asshole isn’t letting you, isn’t he?! Vamos, solo sonríe por mí otra vez. (Come on, just smile again for me.)”  
Most of his words were either yelled or growled.  
The spanish was meant as a ‘losing it’ part, to sell it better. 

It seemed to work. A soft smile crept onto her face.  
“You are worried, we won’t have time to hang out?”  
“How the fuck is this thing going to work, if don’t get to see you?!”  
Just for measure, Vaas threw his hands in the air.  
It made his shoulder sting, but who fucking gave a damn?  
He carefully took her face in his hands.  
“I just really missed you these past few days, Nena. It’s driving me fucking crazy.”  
There it was again, this sweet little blush.  
“Well.. you’re here now and i don’t think i can sleep tonight anyway. If you promise not to break another one of my favorite cups, we could drink some tea and talk a bit more.”  
It was this warm and welcoming smile.  
“I would love to.” 

Only, what felt like, 5 minutes later, they were sitting in the greenhouse together again.  
Liz had made them a new pot of tea and Vaas had gotten a new cup.  
Looking at it, it had a painted tiger on it. Fitting.  
The tea tasted different.  
“It's lavender tea.”  
Vaas hadn’t paid attention earlier, but her cup had a big blue bird on it, flying freely. 

He sat in the corner of the room, on the chair you would normally find the doctor on.  
Liz was on the chair from inside the mansion, sitting somewhat next to him around the corner of the table.  
Just seeing her, trying to maintain eye contact and not drift down to his half naked self, was just.. adorable.  
Just thinking that this was the same girl that survived this unforgiving hell for so long..

There was a long phase of silence between them and Vaas had to really fight, not to drift off again.  
After a few blinks, Liz's face was, all of a sudden red like a tomato and she was staring down her cup, stumbling over her words.  
“Well.. uhm.. i uh. I’ve been thinking, the last few days.”  
She suddenly became all flustered.  
“I mean duh, everyone thinks. Ha ha.. no one would be able to do anything without thinking. i mean. uh yea.”  
What was she going on about?  
“Anyway..I had some ideas.. for, you know.. Once this mess is over and.. Maybe if you want..well uhm.. if work isn’t, you know.. messing with our schedules and maybe .. we could.”  
Was this going where he thought it was going?  
“You know. I uhm..” 

The stammering was endearing, but also annoying.  
He leaned forward, putting a hand on her cheek and moving her face towards him.  
“Nena, look me in the eyes and say what you want to say.”  
Her head looked like it was about to explode.  
And it did. Metaphorically.  
“I really enjoyed our third-first date. I can’t stop thinking about it and now my brain is constantly coming up with ideas on how i could plan one as well, because it would be pretty unfair, if only you would have to plan them. Also I feel very bad about hugging you without asking, if you are ok with it and it is kind of eating me alive right now, so i am sorry and i am talking too much i should really stop.”

It all just came out like a fast waterfall and, as much as it made him grin, he felt like he missed half of it, due to the speed.  
He did get what mattered though. His queen was hooked on.  
“I can’t wait, mi reina.”  
It felt like the heat, emanating from her face, traveled through his arm, warming Vaas' entire body.  
It was so peaceful.

“-ather to me, but with the trauma, he just went ahead and took a bit too much. That’s why, I was so worried about not being able to wake him up.”  
Liz finished filling Vaas cup.  
When did he finish it?  
“At least he is sleeping soundly for once.”  
Why was her voice so remorseful?  
Reaching for his cup of tea, there was already something in his hand.  
The stone.  
Why was he playing with that thing again?  
Fuck, his eyes felt so heavy. 

“-old you, it’s a good distraction. You can keep it if you want.”  
It was so hard to focus on her voice, but he had to push through.  
So he just nodded and slid the pebble in his pocket.  
“Are you still in pain? It’s been nearly 3 hours since you took the ibuprofen.”  
“I’m good.”  
He, in fact, didn’t feel any pain.  
Wait.  
Did she just say 3 hours?

“It's really nice, just sitting here.”  
Pouring herself another cup, the pot seemed empty..  
“Well.. looks like I’m making anoth-”  
Her sentence was interrupted by a deep yawn, pressing some tears out of her eyes.  
"Go to bed, Nena. You're tired."  
The teapot was set back down and Liz hand wandered over, taking one of his in a gentle hold.  
"I am not the one who needs it the most. You look like a walking corpse, Vaas."  
Her voice sounded jokingly, but her face was in deep concern.  
It explained her acting ability.  
At their date, she seemed unable to act, but it was her eyes that gave her away all the time.  
Earlier he only saw her back.

"Listen. I can't sleep, when it's bright anyway. The sun will be up in a good 3 hours and you desperately need some sleep.”  
Despite him dismissing her words, via a headshake, she pressed on.  
“You’ve been so out of it, the entire time. Vaas, you are drifting off right now. Your eyes are closed again. I am really worried about you. Just sleep. It’s ok.”  
Once he fought his eyes to open again, the black icky tendrils were everywhere in the vicinity.  
Licking at her arms, slinging themselfs around her neck, but she seemed unfaced.  
"I'm not leaving you alone. I can’t."  
He wanted to slap himself.  
Vaas was supposed to sound assertive, not pathetic and pleading. 

The next thing he knew, was Liz standing in front of his chair.  
Both of these soft hands had found a place on the sides of his face, supporting it in a gentle hold.  
"Remember what you told me? That i should take care of myself?"  
Her thumbs started to carefully caress the area under his eyes and the top of his cheeks.  
It felt so fucking good.  
"Please, Vaas. Please take care of yourself too. Ok?"  
Every now and then, they would wander up and give a gentle stroke over his eyebrows.

Vaas was in bliss.  
The touches before felt good, but this?  
This was heaven.  
All the sudden danger he had felt, because of the hallucinations was just washed away.  
His hands seemed to gain a mind of their own, as they reached for her, trying to pull her closer towards his sitting form.  
All while his head couldn't decide which caressing bliss he was supposed to lean into. 

The decision was taken from him, as his Angel stepped closer, allowing his hands to hold onto her lower back.  
Her right hand moved up to his hair, stroking down the line of his Mohawk, with the palm gently gliding over his scar, till it came to a rest in his neck, letting her fingers loosely play with the short hair.  
"It's ok. I got you."  
She was so close, he could feel her words on his forehead.  
There was a weird kind of calmness flowing over his shoulders, forming a blanket.  
He was so tired and just felt lost on what to do.  
He was losing the battle.

Vaas could feel the hand on his cheek trying to gently move his gaze up, so he followed.  
Her eyes were filled with concern, warmth and that beautiful kindness.  
"Just close your eyes, relax and rest for a bit."  
There was a featherlight touch on his forehead.  
Lips.  
They started to whisper against his skin.  
“You’ll be fine in the morning.”  
Another short kiss.  
“I’ll be fine in the morning.”  
He could feel her head retread, shortly before his sitting form was pulled into another hug.  
It felt so soft.  
Safe.  
The gentle thumping of a beating heart pulled his eyelids deeper and deeper.  
He tried to hold on, to fight it, to feel the hug tighter, but there was no strength left. 

“Gute Nacht, Vaas. Schlaf gut und träum süß.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was time for a bit of fluff. :3  
> Hope you all enjoyed it!
> 
> For all the people wanting to translate the german bits:  
> "Du gefällst mir überhaupt nicht." Is a way of word, to tell someone they look sick and that you are worried about them.  
> The song she was singing is "Ich bin Ich" from Rosenstolz.
> 
> Thanks again to VnzlHills for all the spanish translations!


	23. What a night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liz has two sleepy heads and a whole bunch of thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit 13.09.2020:   
> Fixed the spacing. :)   
> Enjoy!

The silent sounds of the night composed a natural lullaby. 

Gentle fingers carefully slid through the line of black hair.  
Little drops of water, remains of the days rain, dripping from the holes in the ceiling, hitting the plants and floor.  
The chirping of bugs and squeaking of little kritters found their way into the open backdoor.   
With the silent hissing of the bunsen burner, the calming melodie was completed.   


Not quite.   
What really completed it, was the almost inaudible, calm breathing of two people.

For the past 30 minutes or so, Liz had been standing here, holding a sleeping Vaas in a careful hug.   
Gently stroking his hair until all the tension in his body was gone.  
Once she was 100% sure, he wouldn’t wake up from it, she freed herself from his hands with careful movements and leaned him back against the corner.   
It was so nice seeing him all relaxed and peaceful.   
Luckily her top had dried enough, not to smudge the blood back onto his skin.

Still, somehow this picture didn't feel right yet. 

Like this, Vaas was sure to wake up with neck pain and probably a headache.   
He was still topless and the air did cool down quite a lot.  
He might catch a cold like this.  
All in all, sleeping on a chair, in the corner of an old greenhouse, just couldn’t be comfortable at all. 

With the most nimble of movements, she was able to, Liz sneaked out of the greenhouse and into the mansion. 

Now this looked a lot better.   
The white pillow of the guest bed was squished softly between Vaas' head and the wall.   
The pink blanket found its way around his shoulders, with the white fluffy underside showing outward.   
She guessed he probably wouldn’t be too happy with the pink on display. 

Speaking of display.   
The backdoor was covered with one of the black curtains from inside the mansion.   
Otherwise Vaas would have been out in the open for anyone throwing a glimpse into the greenhouses open back. 

He already got attacked once tonight.   
No need to invite others to try it too. 

Liz didn’t have any clothes here yet, so she sneaked into Alec's room and took a light green button up out of his closet.   
The old man slept like a stone.  
The entire day, he had been down and it only got worse the farther they got towards the evening. 

Originally, Liz had been reading her books and weighting some dried herbs, up in the mansion's guest room.   
The pink room, furnished and colored for a little girl.   
Agnes room. 

Every 5 minutes, Alec had checked on her, getting more and more frantic each time.  
Lisa felt bad for him.   
At first she just got annoyed, because he would burst into the room just to leave again without an explanation. 

Until it clicked after about the 15th time he ran up the stairs, as if a life depended on it. 

In these two years Alec had, not only become like a weird father figure to Lisa, but he had always balanced on the line, of seeing her as an incarnation of his baby daughter or maybe even as a denial, of her death in the first place.  
Alec called her Agnes so many times.   
In the last few days he hadn’t called her by her real name.   
Not even once.

It had been raining and Liz had been upstairs, alone, reading on the couch next to the window.   
They may not have been in a 10th floor apartment in London and Lisa may not be a 2 year old child, but it seemed to still scare the shit out of Alec. 

Maybe it was the rain.   
It rained a lot in London, right?   
Maybe when it happened, when Agnes tumbled out of that window, it was raining?  
Or maybe the anniversary of this tragic event was coming up.  
Trauma was a bitch and she would slap you whenever she wanted.

Anyway.   
Lisa had decided it was best, not to be upstairs anymore.   
So she told him, she was going to work a bit in the greenhouse.  
During dinner, Alec had taken a triple dose of an antidepressant drug he made and told her, it would help him sleep for the night. 

Even though Liz told him it was ok, he deeply apologized for his behaviour.  
He also had made it a point to ensure her, he wasn’t going to die from the dose.   
It wasn’t a golden shot and that he wouldn’t leave her alone in this mess. 

To go even further, he went on roughly explaining the drug's properties and effect on the human body.   
When he went to bed early, Liz could hear him cry through the closed door.  
That poor, old man. 

Since then, she had been sitting in the greenhouse.   
Enjoying the sound of the rain, dissecting the purple berries to get their seeds and re-reading the ‘Chemic’s basics’-book for the third time.   
What a day.. 

And, oh boy, what a night!  
Now she had two sleeping men she was worried about. 

Back in the greenhouse, Vaas hadn’t moved.   
He was still on his chair, leaned back, huddled up in his pillow and blanket. 

Actually, it looked like he did move a bit.   
The blanket was snuggled more into the crook of his neck, than before and there was a weak smile on his face.   
Was it weird to call it a very cute and adorable sight?

Liz couldn’t help but mourn the shattered tea-cup, as she carefully picked up the shards.   
When she took it out of the cupboard earlier, it was a gesture she learned from home, to pick her favorite one for her guest. 

The only reason she hadn’t used that one for herself was that Liz had still been using the same cup from breakfast for the entire day, which was the blue bird of paradise Alec had picked out this morning. 

Liz sat down on her chair and tried to assemble the hand painted shards on a piece of paper.  
There was not enough glue in this world to fix the cup, but the sentimental value made her want to see the art one last time. 

With a steady hand, her tweezers and a good one and a half hours, the picture of the elegant bird showed itself.  
It was a walking male green peacock.  
The long tail feathers weren’t in the wheel position, but down in their relaxed form.   
They used to circle around the cup.

Alec had two sets of painted cups, both were part of the very few things he brought with him, when he first came to Rook.  
One was a hand painted set from bangkok, with different Jungle animals.   
A tiger, a jaguar, a squirrel monkey with its baby, a flying red macaw, a flying blue bird of paradise and a red eyed tree frog.

The other was a hand painted, english porcelain tea set from London, with different birds.  
A green peacock, a royal swan, a pheasant, two collared doves, two starlings and one with three robins dancing. 

Usually, you would see depictions of the more famous blue peacock, which made seeing the green one even more special to her.   
The second Liz had seen this cup for the first time, she had fallen in love with it. 

The green peacock had always been Liz's favorite animal, ever since she could think.   
Ever since she touched one for the first time as a child.  
Hugging it and cuddling the "Hübsches huhn!" like a plush. (beautiful/pretty chicken!)   
The pecks in the face had been worth it.  
Pushing through, she had, at one point, learned how to pet these regal and magical birds, without getting attacked. 

This cup just reminded her of home.   
It made her wonder, if her parents had held on to her feather vase?  
Was her room still the same?  
How was the farm?  
Her parents..   
Did they give up on her or where they still hoping she was alive?   
No.. don’t think about it.

Back when she first told Alec about how amazing these animals were, he had sort of gifted her the cup.  
He told her to take it back home.  
She never accepted.   
Liz was rarely getting the chance to drink tea, aside from visiting Alec.  
There was no point in putting it in her cave.   
So she always left the cup in the mansion, keeping the set together. 

And now it was gone. 

Liz should have seen it coming.   
Giving a man, with a known anger problem, a delicate tea cup, was not a smart idea.  
Especially when said man was clearly in an unstable condition of sleep deprivation. 

She shouldn’t cry over an object and yet, Liz couldn’t fight off a few silent tears.  
God she missed home. 

To get her mind off of the hurting thoughts, Lisa went back to work, dissecting the berries and getting as much flesh of the seeds as possible.   
She needed to dry these too and even though she already had enough of those, a bit of emergency stock wouldn’t hurt, right?  
Her focus didn’t stay for long though.   
At least it wasn’t her thoughts of home that distracted her this time.

Liz just couldn’t help, but look over to Vaas’ sleeping from every now and then. 

He looked so tired and worn out, but also peaceful, calm and.. innocent?   
Like he couldn’t hurt a fly.   
That was so messed up.  
He could most definitely hurt a fly.   
He **would** most definitely hurt a fly.  
A fly and so much more. 

Liz had really hoped that that one pirate, from a few days ago, was wrong.   
Unfortunately he wasn’t.  
From the moment she first saw him tonight, Liz feared, Vaas would just fall over and die at any moment.   
Blood everywhere, swaying on his feet. 

For a moment, it was like being transported back into the compound.   
She had been so scared and shaken up.  
Just like back then, her first goal was to inform professional help, but Vaas didn’t let her go.   
She felt so helpless, but at the same time, she had to help him. 

For some reason, while she had sent Vaas to wash up, the first thing jumping to her mind was the page with natural chemicals produced by mammals, including humans.   
Liz had been so close to an outright, full, panic attack, that she really needed that hug and for some stupid reason the Oxytocin joke was the first thing that came to mind.   
Vaas didn't even get the joke, adding embarrassment to her list of problems.

As calming as the hug was, feeling the blood seep into her clothing, was like a slap to the face again.   
This time she didn’t have Alec's help.  
She had to do this alone.   
She had to fix his wounds, probably save his life, all alone.  
She couldn’t do this.

But Liz wasn’t alone, wasn't she?

You could say so many bad things about Vaas Montenegro.   
Heck! You could even write a book about it!   
But if he really wanted to, he was great at giving comfort.   
Just full of secrets, wasn't he? 

Vaas was right, it was just a bit of blood.   
The wounds weren’t THAT severe.  
This situation wasn't like that night.   
Vaas had been, not fully, but a lot more there and therefore had been actually helpful in her endeavor, to patch him up.

Whatever was wrong with him, Vaas had kept phasing out.   
It was like he wasn’t even there during certain times.   
Even though he spoke.

At least it helped her a little bit, when she was getting rid of the blood on his torso.   
It took her nearly everything, to not recreate that one scene from spongebob, the moment she saw him like that.   
_'Oh no! He’s hot!'_  
It was just a short moment, but still, Vaas would have probably used it to make her really uncomfortable.  
Get her to stroke his ego. 

Somehow it was mesmerizing to see.  
The scars of that night, the outcome of her actions.   
Not only that.   
There were a lot more scars and Liz couldn’t help but wonder what their stories were.  
Also..  
Those abs.   
She might have found a new weakness of herself, but she tried really hard not to stare for too long.

Liz may not know what exactly was going on, but Vaas needed sleep.   
Whatever was keeping him from it had to go.   
Even if she wasn’t going to understand anything, he needed someone to talk to and Liz was really happy, when he accepted her offer.

It was obvious that he wanted to keep his voice steady, while he spoke those things from his soul, but Liz did see, there was desperation and fear in his eyes. 

The thing with her drug delivery and Vaas reaction to it, was tricky.   
Something told her, there was more to it, than just him missing her.   
Vaas wouldn't tell her, obviously, but that might be good.  
She had to keep calm and finish the Firefly.   
If shit hit the fan after that, then there was still time to panic.   
Also, for whatever it was worth, even if shit hit the fan, Liz had an, in her interpretation, rather powerful ally in Vaas.  
He would surely help her, right?

It was hard to tell when Vaas was going to phase out and when he was coming back, so Liz just talked to him.  
About nearly everything. 

How her days were, why Alec was out of order and at one point, even about her ideas for a date.   
Unfortunately, that was the exact point, he seemed to come back to reality. 

Of course it was.. 

But, while he seemed to be ‘gone’, Vaas also talked.   
It was the only way to somehow tell what state he was currently in.   
His words were mostly a tired mumble, but you could still understand him just fine.

How his days had been shitty.   
The killed captive and some guy named Carlos.   
_“It’s so fucking nice to have people that do their fucking job when you’re not around.”_  
His sleep was quote: _“a fucking fucked up fucking mess”_ , but it was _"fine"_.   
Yeah.. No. 

How he got attacked by a Rakyat on his way here.   
_“So fucking rude..”_

He went on an entire journey of words, to tell her how pretty she was and how amazing it was to watch her just move around in the jungle. 

That part sounded like he was deep drunk with sleep and exhaustion.   
Killing every filter he had.  
A little blush had appeared on his face that nearly killed her.   
Which was exactly why she started to stumble over her words and talk about her ideas for a next date. 

At one point he began saying more spanish things, sounding more and more in distress.  
It really hurt, imagining how long he must have suffered in silence, about whatever he was telling her. 

The phaseouts became longer and longer and Liz really hoped he would just fall asleep already.

That’s why she switched to lavender tea, as soon as the teapot was empty the first time.  
He needed sleep and he needed it Asap. 

Once she finally had the balls to tell him, to go to sleep, the reaction nearly broke her heart.  
 _"I'm not leaving you alone. I can’t.”_

He was so scared.

For just a split second, there was a confused and scared child in front of her, instead of a man that just killed someone. 

Whatever it was, he said to her earlier, it was something about him being scared for her.   
Was it because of what she said on their date?   
With the Rakyat possibly attacking her, if it came out, they dated?   
Was it about the delivery?  
This Mr. Volkner?   
It didn’t matter.   
Lisa was going to make sure he could sleep and that as soundly as possible.

Every time there was a little movement, Liz made sure he was ok.   
Did the blanket fall off?   
Was it just a normal movement or a bad dream?  
Was he still sitting stable, so he wouldn’t fall over?

There had been only one time, a good hour before sunrise, where it looked like Vaas was having a bad dream.   
Or a good dream turning bad.   
It was hard to tell which one.

Liz had gotten up and tried calming him down, by playing with his hair a bit more and it seemed to work.   
The stress and pain, in his face, were gone in seconds.   
What a relief. 

It was hard to let go again.   
How was it possible for a man like him, to have such soft hair?   
That was just unfair!  
It always looked so ruff and pointy, but now that it wasn't stiled, it felt like silk.  
There was no way this was natural.   
Right?

In her slow strokes, Liz tried to avoid the scar with her palm.   
Earlier, when she touched it, Vaas had given just the slightest flinch.   
Maybe it hurt..  
Maybe it was just sensitive to the touch, but as long as she didn’t know, why risk hurting him? 

It made her wonder.  
How did he get it?   
What kind of wound had this been and, how in the heavens, did he survive?  
Maybe he told her already earlier?   
Who knew?  
Right now, all that mattered, was the calm breathing and the relaxed face. 

Once she was in her chair again, the realisation hit her.   
Liz was relaxed.   
This right now, was the safest and most relaxed she had ever felt around Vaas.   
It felt amazing.

Morning finally arrived, when the sun started to creep it’s way up the horizont.  
By now, the teapot was filled with its 3rd serving of black tea, with way too much sugar.   
After all, Liz was pulling an all nighter and she needed some energy. 

Now there was just one more problem.   
Liz was hungry.   
It was time for breakfast.   
This usually shouldn’t be a problem, but it wasn’t just Alec and her. 

What on earth could she make for Vaas?   
Did he have a favorite breakfast food?  
He was so drained of energy, who knew if he even ate right, the last few days?  
But somehow a healthy breakfast also seemed wrong. 

What this man needed was comfort food!   
Something that could be eaten cold too, because Liz was, sure as hell, not waking him up. 

So her plan was made and she went to work in the mansions kitchen, always making sure to keep an eye on the greenhouse, just in case someone came over.

During her little cooking segment, there was one problem.   
She didn’t have any milk.   
It was one of those random things that were just near impossible to get on Rook.  
So Liz had to improvise.. and already knew how.

In the time she was preparing everything, Liz never left Vaas unsupervised for more than 5 minutes.   
It stretched the cooking out, sure, but what if he had a nightmare?   
What if someone was trying to attack?   
He could wake up and wonder where she was. 

It took a good hour, until Liz walked back into the greenhouse with a tray.   
She took her plate off and set an upside down crate over Vaas’ portion, to keep it somewhat safe from insects and put a note on it saying. “Breakfast”

What was under it?   
Nothing less but a big plate of Pfannkuchen and a jar of berry jam.  
Not pancakes in the american sense, but the thin Pfannkuchen from home.   
Not to be mistaken for Crêpe though!

Instead of milk, Liz used mango juice.   
It had been a mess to make, but she wanted to go the extra mile for him.   
So there was also a big glass of it on the tray.   
Without any pulp, because pulp was just the fucking worst!

Eating, as silent as possible, Liz made her plan for today.   
Set up work outside, coordinate with Alec and hopefully, if time let her, finally get home and get fresh clothes.   
The last time she stepped a foot in her cave was now 6? Maybe 7 days ago?   
Shit that was basically an entire week! 

Oh god..   
She still wore the same stuff from the date and except Alec's button up she wore now, her clothes were absolutely disgusting at this point.   
She showered everyday since she was at the mansion, sure, but without any spare clothing and the same underwear… 

That disgusting thought aside, these Pfannkuchen were great!   
She should do this more often.   
When was the last time she made some?   
Back before Rook? 

Liz couldn’t help it, but she really hoped that Vaas would like them.   
God fucking damn it.   
She really developed a bit of a crush, over these past few days, hadn’t she?  
Everything he did up to their date had been in her mind for the entire time.   
Every night, when she laid down in the bed, she cuddled her pillow like a crushy teen, thinking about the date and this picture of her dream. 

It was a very conflicting thought, but Liz had to admit it, a lot of the fucked up things he did, fell into the background to make space for the nice and sweet things he did for her. 

After her breakfast was done, there was no time for thinking about her crush.  
It was time to get to work!  
She had a designer drug to make!   
What a weird thought...

Anyway.  
Liz had to stop looking at the half naked man, sitting in the corner, with a plush blanket and a pillow.  
Ok, he looked really cute.   
Wait, was he drooling on himself?   
Oh god.   
It was so adorable..   
Liz, you really need to stop looking at him.   
But he is so huggable right now..  
No.   
Focus. 

It’s been nearly 4 to 5 hours, but Vaas looked so much better already.  
It was really hard to leave him now, but the things she needed to do made sounds and she really wouldn't want to risk waking him up.   
Just let the man sleep in peace.   
He needed it.

Liz tried to be as silent as possible, while carrying the crates with the prepared mushrooms outside, to place them in the direct sunshine.   
The crates had very tight bug nets over them, allowing the fluids to slowly vaporize, while also catching any spores that might get poofed out, as a last resort of the mushrooms to procreate.

It took longer to ‘humid dry’ like this and Liz had to make sure there was no mold forming, but they couldn’t afford to lose too many spores. 

The crates were out and her seeds were in a tray she made of Aluminiumfoil.  
The few herbs she hadn’t pre-dried and the ones she had prepared for Alec's work, hung from a thin string.   
All she had to do now, was make sure no animals were eating her stuff.  
Liz also moved out a few more of the laboratory tools for Alec.   
Just in case Vaas slept longer than the doctor. 

To pass some more time, she got the mortar and prezle from inside and begann crushing a few ingredients into a salve.  
Vaas could surely use something for the cuts and bruises.   
Liz just really hoped she’d do it right.   
This salve was the only thing Alec was able to show her, before the mess with the drugs started. 

It had to be maybe 8am to 8:30, when Alec first stepped out of the mansion.   
“Good morning, Alec.”   
“Oh.. Oh good morning to you too, my dear. I see you are up already. Did the sun wake you again?”  
He looked a lot better than yesterday.   
A bit groggy, but happy. 

"Not quite. Did you sleep well?”   
He nodded. “Most certainly! And thank you very much for those pancakes. They were delightful.”   
Liz just grinned at that.   
She already had a 66,66% satisfaction rate on her cooking skills.

The grin faded pretty fast, when Alec started to walk towards the greenhouse.   
It was out of instinct for her to jump between Alec and the greenhouse’s main door.  
“You can’t go in there!”   
It came out a lot louder than she anticipated.   
"You can't go in there right now." She whispered.   
Alec was, understandably, shocked by her sudden outcall. 

"Is something wrong?"   
"Yes! I mean no! I mean.. Kinda?"   
Liz was stumbling over her words.   
"We, kind of, had a patient tonight.. Nothing too bad, just a few scratches. He'll be fine." 

She tilted her head from side to side a bit, while talking.  
"But right now he's asleep in the greenhouse and well.."   
Alec seemed very confused, so Liz just opened the door behind her very gently, to reveal just a glimpse of the sleeping man in the corner, before closing it again, making near no noise. 

"Oh." Alone from the tone, Alec understood where she was coming from.   
“Well, there is an old saying. Let sleeping dogs lie."   
Liz never heard of that one before, but it sounded a lot like he wasn't going to wake Vaas up.  
Good.

"Exactly. That's why I already put everything we need outside.”   
Liz pointed towards the wooden pavilion that looked out over the cliffside.  
“If you need anything else, I am pretty light on my feet."

After she gave him a short rundown on what kind of wounds and state Vaas was in, he was the doctor after all, they both went to work. 

While Alec moved over towards the cliffside, Liz stayed in the shadow of the greenhouse, peeking her head through the backdoor curtain every now and then. 

At one point, she checked on the red top, hanging from the ceiling.   
It was still somewhat moist, so she hung it outside in the sun for an hour.  
Today was going to be hot, she could already tell. 

At around 11am, the heat had reached around 33°C (91,4°F) with a tendency to rise even further.  
The good thing was, the mushrooms, herbs and seeds dried very well.  
The bad thing was, it was unbelievably hot and dry weather.   
Or at least in the clearings. 

Liz was sweating like crazy.  
She really wasn’t anticipating how humid it was going to be, during her travel home through the lush later.   
All the rain, that wasn’t absorbed deep into the ground yet, was vaporizing now. 

She had just finished helping Alec move his working supplies into the mansion, before bringing the red top back inside the greenhouse.   
It wasn’t really clean, Liz only washed it out under some running water, but it was dry.   
Good enough.

Vaas was still sleeping like a baby.   
The blanked had fallen from one shoulder, exposing half the upper body.   
It instantly brought a smile and a slight blush on her face. 

While folding the red cloth, there was some noise, coming from Vaas.   
Well not from him directly, but more from his pants. 

It sounded like his radio was getting some form of signal, but the volume was turned pretty low.   
Hopefully everything was alright. 

The salve was done, placed on the table with the top and the piece of paper that now had ‘Breakfast’ scratched out and ‘Lunch’ written on it instead, her preparations were completed and now the only thing that she needed to do was make sure nothing happened to her drying ingredients. 

So, she just relaxed a bit in the shade of the greenhouse, reading a new book about the symbiosis of biology and chemics. 

It was a relaxing switch of reading a few passages, looking out for animals and, of course, Lisa was popping her head through the backdoor curtain every 15 minutes, just to make sure Vaas was alright.

Which he was.   
And he would be for 30 minutes at a time too.   
There was no need to check on him so frequently.  
Her constant ruffling of the fabric was sure to wake him up at some point.   
Which was not what she wanted.  
But she was so silent and what if he needed to wake up from a nightmare or something?

He was going to be ok and Liz should really get going.   
Her clothes wouldn’t bring themselves to the mansion! 

But leaving now was impossible!   
She promised to be there once Vaas woke up.   
She promised.

God, why was this so conflicting? 

Liz should check on him again..  
Just to make sure he was alright.  
She got up to push her head through the fabric once more. 

For fucks sake!   
Vaas was an adult, he could deal.   
Liz would be back in a good hour and a half anyway..  
But after-

Her forehead collided with something cold, ripping her from her thoughts.   
What the..

Gun.

There was the barrel of a pistol pressing on her forehead.   
A finger on the trigger.   
Following the arm up, Vaas was looking down on her with a weird smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter was a bit shorter than the last few, but i liked the point to cut it.  
> It may seem a little bit all over the place, but that is on purpouse, to show Liz state of mind and way of thinking. :)  
> I also tried using rich text for the first time, so i hope it dosen't look weirdly spaced out. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!  
> Also giant thanks for 88 Kudos!  
> This fic got waaay much more attention than i ever thought it would get :D  
> I hope you all have a great time and stay safe in these weird times.
> 
> Edit: i just noticed it looks really weirldy spaced out, but i am in a real hurry rght now so i will edit the spacing in a few days!  
> Hope you can still enjoy!


	24. Such a weird word

It was like time stood still for a moment.  
Liz' body was frozen in place, staring past the black barrel up into a deep green lush that masked any emotion.  
That or her mind wasn’t able to determine anything, thanks to the adrenalin. 

When did Vaas wake up?  
The last time Liz pushed her head through the curtain was a good 15 minutes ago.  
Back then he was sleeping like a baby.  
There hadn't been a single sound coming from inside the greenhouse.  
And yet he was at the other end of the building.  
Pointing a gun at her. 

“Where is the old fuck?”  
There was no chance to determine any kind of mood from Vaas’ voice.  
Liz was terrified. 

Sure there had been guns pointed in her general direction before.  
Back when they were captured and during her first run in with Jason.  
She also witnessed a bunch of gunshots up until now, but in her entire time here, Liz had successfully avoided being ever held at an actual Gunpoint.  
Especially by someone who was known to be as trigger happy as Vaas. 

Everything in her mind kicked into survival mode.

He just asked her a question.  
Vaas liked answers to his questions, right?  
Well, he was sure as hell getting everything he wanted from her now!  
Doing anything that could piss Vaas off, was practically suicide in this situation.

Come on.  
Answers him.  
Liz.  
Open your fucking mouth!  
It could be the last thing you do.

“Dr. Earnhardt is currently in the Mansion working on his delivery for you that is due in 2 days. We temporarily moved his work there to reduce the probability of loud noises in the immediate vicinity of the greenhouse.”  
Fuck.. her voice shivered.  
Was that bad? Rude?

Was she too specific or not specific enough?  
It sounded a bit too professional and a little bit stuck up, didn’t it?  
Fuck!  
She just wanted to state the facts and make sure there wasn’t anything wrong with her information.  
God.  
Hopefully that was what he wanted to hear. 

Vaas just raised an eyebrow before he grinned ominously.  
“Well then, how about you move your ass in here, hermana?”  
That nickname and tone of voice.  
This was the way he played with his captives, wasn’t it?

The gun moved, causing just the slightest release of pressure on her forehead, but never leaving it completely.  
He was indicating her to follow. 

There was no question in what she had to do.  
This was a _”Listen to me and you **might** survive this.”_-Situation and Liz was not taking any risks.  
So she very slowly and carefully pushed the curtain aside a bit more and stepped through the gap, letting the heavy fabric fall closed behind her.

Lifting her hands completely into the air seemed like a bad idea.  
It could give Vaas the wrong suspicions.  
Like she didn’t take him seriously, because of some weird reason, he could come up with, and maybe get him to do, who knew what. 

But Liz still held them open at around her belly height.  
Just far away enough from her knife, to signal, that she wasn’t planning on doing something dumb, but at the same time not acting over the top. 

Everything to show that she took this situation seriously.  
In case her trembling body wasn’t enough evidence for that already. 

The sunlight, shining in through the smudged windows, lit the room and heated the air to about the same temperature as outside.  
The humidity was rising already and the hefty smells of herbs and certain plants were drifting around.

There was no time to take in any other details, as the pressure grew again, a good four steps in, sending a chilling cold from the metal down her entire spine and limbs.  
Even her fingertips shivered. 

“Who else is out there?”

Liz tried very hard to keep her breathing slow and steady, but her heart was racing, just like her thoughts.  
Why was this happening?  
Why was Vaas doing this to her?  
What happened to ‘no threat’?  
What did he mean with ‘who else is out there’?  
Did she miss something?

“Nobody.” 

It was the truth, but she suddenly felt like she was wrong.  
Did somebody sneak up on her?  
If yes, how would Vaas notice it from in here?  
What was going on? 

Did Vaas just play with her from the beginning?  
Was this the end of the game?  
Did she let her guard down too fast?  
Liz felt like she stood before the crazy ass lunatic, she feared for so long again, instead of the man she just started to feel safer around.

Honestly, _‘creepy obsessed dinner date’_ \- Vaas and _‘someone told me you cheated on me, even though we aren’t a thing, but i decided that we are, so shut up’_ \- possessive, aggressive Vaas from the beach had scared her to near death already.  
But this?

This _‘I’m just going to smile weirdly while holding you at gunpoint with no indication of what is actually going on’_ \- Vaas was way worse! 

In those other moments, she had felt out of control and scared, but right now she felt even smaller.  
Back then, she would have been at his mercy, but would still have been able to at least try something if bad came to worse. 

Now there was nothing.  
Nada.  
Nichts.  
Not a single chance.  
One movement out of line and she was a goner.  
Liz was literally just a single finger movement from dying. 

Why was Vaas making sure they were alone?  
Why did that information have such importance, to put his pistol against her forehead?  
Or was it just another excuse to be cruel?

That was when she noticed that her eyes had focused back down to the gun and the hand that held it, slightly tilted to the side.  
Since when did she stare at it?  
Was this rude?  
Would Vaas count that as rude behaviour, messing her over even more?

This was, by far, the most dangerous situation she had ever been in.  
The possibility of death was higher than ever.  
Fuck tigers attacking, fuck hiding from pirates, fuck even the mess in the compound with Jason!  
This was another level. 

Just thinking about this piece of metal pressing down her forehead was a nightmare.  
What were the odds of dying on Rook from a syringe that was being inserted to your neck forcefully, with a heavy sedative?  
Being given unidentifiable food and meds, that could be deadly or poisonous?  
Or when someone hit you in the face?  
Swimming a short distance, at night, in waters infested with sharks?  
Those were all things she either faced or nearly faced with Vaas.  
There was a chance to die from those things, but it was avoidable.

And now to compare those numbers with how many people, in percentage, died from guns.  
Not only guns, but this one in particular. 

As far as Liz knew, this pistol was considered Vaas’ main weapon of choice.  
Sure he’d been seen killing people with other firearms too, but apparently this was the go-to one.

So, just how big was the number of people dying from it?  
Or more: How small was the chance of being faced with this tool of death, point blank on your forehead and then getting away with your life?  
Looking at the probability, Liz was absolutely screwed!

“-n’dt be very nice? No?” 

**Fuck.**

Her mind had been racing too hard.  
Liz focused too much on the inanimate object that was potentially going to end her and didn’t pay enough attention to the person using said object.

What was that question?  
That did he ask?  
What would be nice?  
Or wouldn’t be nice?  
Fuck!  
What did he say?

Oh for fucks sake!

Liz's eyes focused back on Vaas face, hoping she’d sport something, anything, that could tell her what he wanted to hear right now.  
Nothing.  
Just a simple smile with a tilted head, waiting for her answer.  
As if this was just a normal conversation and he wasn’t threatening her life right now.

Her, not really hidden, panic and confusion must not be what he wanted to see, because Vaas just narrowed his eyes with a rather playful look on his face.

“No answer, is also an answer, Nena.”

A small movement changed her eyes' point of focus again. 

The triggerfinger twichted.  
No.  
No, no, **No!**

She wanted to do something.  
Move, scream, close her eyes.  
Anything.

Her body was locked up like a brick of ice.

Time itself seemed to fall into slow motion.  
Her vision entering a dark tunnel of only the gun on her forehead.

Everything flashed past Liz's inner eye.  
Her childhood.  
Her Family.  
Her pets and the farm animals she loved and grew up with.  
Her old work colleges.  
The friends she lost and the ones she still had.  
Her life here.  
Alec.  
The building friendship with Crystal.  
Her brothers.  
Even their date and that fucking dream picture that wouldn’t leave her mind. 

But in the end it all was drowned out by the memories about moments and situations, where Liz saw or in some way shape or form, witnessed Vaas shooting people point blank.  
And now she was on the verge of joining them.  
There were two lonely, silent tears rolling down her cheeks, as she just stared, wide eyed, at the moving finger, helpless.

This was it.  
Fuck.

_Click._

Click?  
Why ‘Click’?  
Shouldn’t it..?  
For the first time in, what felt like, hours, Liz allowed herself to blink. 

Wait a minute.

She was alive?  
But the trigger was pulled all the way..  
Why was there only a ‘click’? 

What the?

Another movement catched her attention.  
This one came from Vaas' side.  
His left hand to be specific.  
A small waving motion.  
There was a black piece of something in his left hand.

The Magazine.

Vaas was holding the fucking Magazine in his left hand!

The tunnel vision darkened more as loud static filled Liz’s ears. 

The Pistol was never loaded?

“-ena?”

The fucking Pistol was never even loaded.

“-ey?!”

After a moment of who knows how long, Vaas grabbed both her shoulders, shaking her first lightly, then harder, effectively breaking her out of the static noise and blank stare. 

“ **Fucking breath!** ”

Breathing?  
Oh yeah.  
Right.  
That was a thing.  
Good idea.  
When did she stop?

Apparently a pretty long time ago, because once she took the first breath in, the rush of oxygen felt as if she had been drowning. 

Her locked up body relaxed a tiny bit with every deep breath.  
The two legs, she called her own, felt like pudding, barely able to hold her up.

Ignoring the support she was getting through the hands on her shoulders, which still held the gun and Magazine by the way, Liz walked the two steps to the flower box, leaving Vaas standing in the middle of the room and let herself fall on top of some fern.

Honestly, she neither cared for the squished plants, not the dirt getting on her pants right now.  
Liz had to sit the fuck down for a moment.

“..heilige Scheiße.. Fuck.”  
Her breathing changed into an actual heavy panting.  
Whispering curses, trying to calm herself down.  
It took her everything, not to start to stress cry.

“What the fuck was that about? You just fucking scared the shit out of me!”  
She wanted to yell, but there was no power in her voice.  
It came out as just another whisper.

Vaas just grinned back at her, seemingly proud of himself.  
“Good!” 

Good?  
Fucking **GOOD?!**

She really wanted to say something, yell at him, scream at him to give her a fucking explenation on what the actual fuck?!  
But Liz had A: not the energy to yell at him right now and B: Vaas just put the magazine back into his Pistol.

Just the sound of it clicking into place, caused Liz to heavily flinch.  
“Because this shit better fucking works, once we have an audience.”  
The top was pulled back with this horrible loading sound, before the gun landed in its holster.

Audience? 

“Wait. wha-” Her sentence was interrupted by a sound.  
Some kind of melodie coming directly from Vaas.  
A ringtone?

Liz watched, not really less terrified and still in overwhelmed shock, as Vaas pulled an actual smartphone out of his back pocket and answered it, **way** too casually.

“¿Qué? Carlos estoy en el medio de algo, más te vale que esta mierda sea importante.”

Liz was aware that phones existed on Rook.  
Many pirates had phones, some even shitty smartphones, but they all just used those to play games.  
None of them were able to actually make calls.  
That’s why they had radios.  
The entire system of radio was way more useful in their endeavors.  
So why did he have one?  
The pirates communicated basically only over radio, they didn’t need working phones.

On a second thought though, it did make a bit of sense.

There was a small number of people with actual working cell phones, none of which were able to make phone calls outside of Rook though.  
The network was, obviously, not attached to the mainland.  
It all ran over the radio towers.  
Otherwise this entire operation would probably be already shut down by authorities, after the first few captive managed to call for help.

Alec had a working cell phone that he got orders with and, from what she had heard, this Buck-guy was said to be in the possession of one as well.  
She had also witnessed Jason make a call once, in their short time together, howerver the fuck he had gotten his hands on one. 

So why shouldn’t Vaas have a working phone too?  
He was important.  
But this wasn’t just a working cell phone.  
This was an actual working smartphone and from the small glimpse she got, it looked like a really nice one too.

The conversation sounded rather calm.  
Maybe a little bit annoyed, but this was all in spanish so, who was she to tell? 

Liz could feel herself sway a little.  
Why did she feel so unbelievably dizzy all of a sudden?  
It wasn’t the adrenalin leaving her, that was for sure.

After a few seconds, a fingersnap caught her attention.  
She hadn’t even noticed her eyes losing focus.

Vaas was standing with his side facing her, but was looking directly at her face, while apparently listening to something on the phone.

His free, left, hand made a motion in a slight arc up to his mouth, while straightening his back and pushing out the chest.  
After a short moment, the motion was reversed.  
The hand moved down, with the back and chest relaxing again.

Breathing.  
Right.  
She was holding her breath again. 

Closing her eyes, Liz tried really hard to focus on her breathing.

_In and out._

Relax.

_In and out._

One shaking breath at a time.

_In and out._

God damn it!  
Her heart wasn’t calming down!  
She couldn’t even focus on Vaas’ words.  
It was spanish anyway so there was no real loss, but still.  
Liz needed some form of an anchor right now.  
She wasn’t any less terrified and Vaas obviously seemed to enjoy that.  
A fucking phonecall was more important that her panic!

_In._

What the fuck had just happened?  
_It wasn’t loaded._  
Was this all just a stupid joke?  
She was safe, right?

 _Out._

He wouldn’t have done it..  
Vaas told her at the beach.  
The thought alone, hurting her, hurt him a lot more.  
There was no reason to freak out.  
_Not a threat_ , remember?  
But he said her fear was ‘good’. 

_In._

What the fuck was going on?  
Was this some toxic masculinity bullshit?  
Was he trying to ensure her fear in him, after he showed her so much weakness last night? 

_Ouuuut._

But he said he didn’t want her to be afraid of him.  
He had made it clear so many times, that he wanted her trust.  
But why would he do this to her then?  
Why would he think this joke would earn her trust?

_I-i-in._

Liz could feel her entire body start to shake again.  
She was feeling so cold.  
Her arms flung around herself, trying to keep from freezing.  
It felt like she had to vomit, but at the same time she didn’t.

_Ou- Ou.. fuck._

Why hold her at gunpoint?  
Why scare her like this?

_I-..I...i._

None of this made sense.  
Why would he do this to her?  
Was this really just a fucked up game to him?  
Vaas did have a crude humor and played with people's lives all the time.  
But why with her?  
Why now?

Her body felt so cold and sick, but numb at the same time.  
Everything in her screamed to run, but she couldn’t even move a single muscle anymore.

_o-_

Was he going to do this more often?  
Would he just playfully threaten her, for his own amusement?  
If he did.. would the magazine be missing again?  
Probably not..  
If her fear was the goal, he would make it serious.  
What if he slipped?  
The gun malfunctioned?  
What if-

Something warm touched her forehead, snapping Liz out of her tunnel of thoughts.

Vaas had stepped in front of her, effectively trapping Liz between the flower box and himself.  
One arm had snook around her waist, the other seemingly still held the phone up to his ear.

The thouch did both.  
Make her feel even more scared, given that this monster was way too fucking close and touching her, trapping her in a very bad position, flipping kissing her forehead.  
It also calmed her down a bit. 

What the fuck was wrong with her?

Liz could slowly focus on the conversation again.  
She wouldn’t understand it, but maybe, just maybe her head would let her relax for a moment?  
Focus.  
Distract yourself.  
What was coming out of that phone?

Something, something, Pendejo, something, something Fuego, something, something, Altoparlante.  
It was the same voice from the Radio, back at their date.

The warmth left her forehead for one short moment. 

“Solo destripa al cabrón. Yo me encargo del resto después. Quiero a esos cabrones vivos. Deja que se unan a esa perra, cómo se llamaba? Tim?”

There was no logical explanation for it, but having Vaas just hold her, grounded her panic enough from its wild flutter, to turn breathing into an at least doable task again.  
That didn’t mean she was ok though.  
Liz was fucking terrified.  
She still didn’t understand why he did what he did. 

There was a short silence on the phone and Vaas returned to giving Liz little, featherlight, soundless kisses on the forehead and gently caressing her back with his free hand.  
All pretty intimate gestures.  
Which he could do now.  
Because she did them first.

In Lisa’s defence, it had been a weird form of instinkt.  
Like, it was the most effective way to calm him down.  
To be fair, it was actually pretty damn helpful, as she was experiencing herself now. 

“Ese en tu 'jardín' por Tequila Sunrise? Estoy seguro que ese fue despejado, porque todos se fueron y murieron. Lo siento por eso, jefe.”

The man on the other side sounded apologetic.  
Did something bad happen?  
Was Jason messing with their stuff again?  
Oh God.  
Was Vaas gonna get mad?

Even worse.  
Was Liz gonna receive the bad side of that?  
No.. no, no.  
Just try to keep calm. 

_In~  
Out~_

She had this fear on their date as well, remember?  
Vaas had calmed down immediately, once he realized she started to get scared.

 _Not a threat_ , remember?

But he didn’t stop earlier, even though she was terrified.  
_It was never even loaded._  
It had all been an act.  
So no need to fucking panic again.  
Just take a few **deep breaths** Liz and you'll be fine.

“Ay no me jodas... Tienes razón. Alguien reportó eso el otro día... Olvidé esa mierda. Maldita sea... El chico Timmy no se veía muy bien la última vez que nos divertimos...” 

Vaas seemed.. resentful?  
Mourning?  
OK.  
Something did happen.  
But what?  
Did someone die?  
Who would Vaas mourn over?

Either he didn’t just mourn over something or it was one of these insane person mood swings, but Liz could feel a big smile forming on her skin. 

“Por que mueren tan rápido mis plantas por allá? Crees que es el suelo equivocado, hermano? Tal vez estamos utilizando el 'fertilizante' equivocado? O tal vez esos cabrones no las riegan lo suficiente...” 

There was a single snorted laugh coming from the phone.  
A joke?  
Vaas mouth was mere millimeters away from her head.  
Every word spoken hit her skin, letting a weird calm and warmth roll down her body.  
It slowly stopped her feeling of freezing to death. 

This was so wrong. 

“Bueno, de todas maneras! Lleva a esas perras pa' allá, llegaré pronto. Solo asegúrate de que esos hijos de puta rieguen mis putas 'plantas'! No te atrevas a arruinar mi puta película, Carlos. Estoy contando contigo.)”

“Ni lo pensaría, je-”  
Vaas cut the other person off, by hanging up. 

Part of Lisa wanted really bad for him to continue the phone call, instead of turning his entire attention back to her.  
But it seemed today was not her lucky day, because after putting the phone back into his back pocket, Vaas leaned back a little bit, to properly look down at her face. 

Liz tried not to meet his eyes, given the few little tears she couldn’t fight back.  
So instead she stared down.  
The first detail her brain allowed to be taken in, was that Vaas was wearing his top again.  
It was one big bloodstain but at least it was dry.

The newly freed, right, hand took one circular stroke down her hairline, behind her ear and over her jaw, before carefully lifting her face upwards.  
Liz was met with a caring smile.  
It felt good and god damn did she want to punch him. 

“Feeling better, Mi Alma?”  
Why? Why, the fuck, did he sound so relaxed and happy?  
Did he not witness the same scenario as she did just now?

“n.. no. Vaas. I am not..”  
Her own voice broke again.  
“You just.. why.. I.”  
Where was she supposed to start? 

Another small kiss found its place on her forehead.  
“Shhh It’s ok, Mi amor. It’s ok.”  
The first sobb forced itself out of her mouth, shaking her entire body, causing the man before her to pull her into another hug.  
For a moment Liz wanted to fight it, press him away, but her body betrayed her, hugging back and pressing her cheek into the stained fabric.  
Just focusing on her breathing and letting him caress her back and the side of her head and cheak.

They stayed like this for a moment, as Liz just let all her sobbs out.  
She wasn’t full on crying, but the stress just needed to break out of her.

“You’ll be ok, Mi querida. I’m here.”  
“You just threatened me.” Liz kept her eyes closed.  
It was such a weird experience to sit here, being held in this embrace by this monster and still feel a bit better by the time passing.  
“I didn’t threaten you.”  
“You put a pistol to my head.”

There was a short silence in which Vaas let go of her, so she could sit up straight again.  
“You thought i’d really do it?”  
To say he looked hurt wasn’t exactly on point.  
It was close, but he also had this look on him.  
It was hard to pinpoint, but it was like he was happy, sad, dissapointed and pissed at the same time.

“Would you not?”  
Before Vaas could open his mouth for an answer, Liz cut him off.  
“Be honest. Loaded or not. The first time somebody did this to you. Pointing a fucking gun directly at your head. Were you not scared shitless?” 

For just a moment, Vaas seemed to close his eyes and let his focus drift off from her, to think.  
Just his left found its place at her side again, keeping the contact.  
Somehow, she was curious now. 

Her question had been to get him to understand.  
Surely Vaas had been at the other side of a gun before.  
That was how this business worked right?  
It also made her wonder how he got into it in the first place. 

Every hair in Liz’s neck stood up, when the first chuckle left his mouth.  
“No. Oh fuck no, Nena.”  
The grin, the voice, the half lidded eyes.  
Something told her that she just fucked up.  
“I was fucking ready, to take that bullet head-on.” 

Vaas was leaning towards her again, with this rather nostalgic, insane glimmer in his eyes.  
“And that is exactly why i am still here.”  
In the corner of her eye, Liz watched the right hand wander back behind him, where the Pistols holster was. 

“What I think, is **way** more interesting though..”  
To say her alarm bells went off, watching Vaas looking at his hand turning the Pistol to make every angle visible, was an understatement.  
The playful sound of his voice wasn’t helping either.  
“..Is that this is baby’s first time?” 

As much as she tried to flinch away, Liz was trapped on the Flower Box.  
Not only that, but now that she really wanted to move, her body awareness said ‘hi’ and finally let her realize the position she had been in the entire time.  
Vaas wasn’t just standing in front of her and the Flower Box.  
He was getting this close up and personal to her upper body, because he was standing **between her fucking legs**!

The second the cold barrel touched her cheek, Liz's mind was ripped back up to watch the hand.  
This time, the gun wasn’t on point with her skin.  
It was the side of the barrel that gently stroked up and down her cheek.

Every little movement of the metal sent icy spikes through her entire body.  
Liz could feel every uneven part of the barrels surface, just as well as the eyes watching, burning their gaze into her.  
She didn’t answer them, because Liz was currently unable to do anything but stare at the gun.

Just when Liz's heart thought it could take a break, the adrenaline kicked it into full force again.

After, what felt like an eternity of going up and down, the pistol wandered downwards, away from her face.  
It was a slow and gracious movement.  
Letting her feel just enough pressure, to know this killing tool was there, without it feeling like a forceful drag.  
The front graced her earlobe, effectively getting her body to start shaking again. 

“Why so nervous?”  
The barrel stopped its journey, pressing the side against her throats pulse.  
Somehow it made her wonder if Vaas could feel her heartbeat through it, because Liz was hearing it loud and clear.  
He probably wouldn’t need to though.  
Her entire body was visibly shaking already.

“Look me in the eye.”  
She couldn’t.  
Liz tried with all the willpower she had to move her eyes away from the hand.  
To do as told, but she just couldn’t move her eyes an inch.  
That's when her heart stopped for a moment. 

“I said look. me. in the. **fucking.** eye!”  
In one swift motion, the pistol was dragged away from its resting ground until it pointed upward under her jaw.  
It’s loaded.  
The gun was fucking **loaded**!  
This bullet would go through her tongue and right into her brain.  
Snuffing her out immediately.  
As soon as her eyes switched direction to look his way, he was already up close and personal.

Vaas’ forehead was pressed to hers in milliseconds.  
Forehead to forehead, Nose to nose.  
Liz couldn’t move.  
Every muscle in her body betrayed her, as she could feel every breath hit her skin.

All she could do was watch the inside of the jungle lush staring down at her and try really hard not to freak out about the **loaded gun pointing up her skull**.  
Still, there were small tears forming in her vision.

Anger, annoyance, worry.  
Those were just the few emotions that she saw at first glance, but there was a lot more going on in there.  
Something was wrong about him.

“You’re gonna fucking listen to me now, ok?”  
He was looking for something in her eyes.  
How Liz knew that, was unknown to her, but she could feel it somehow.  
Vaas was searching for something.

“I want you to remember this Nena. This is really fucking important so, you better fucking listen to me right now, ok? Just fucking listen. Every Time i do this.”  
The gun dug deeper in her jaw, causing another stroke of panic in the back of her mind and forcing Liz to swallow once.

“Every single **fucking** time i do this.”

All the emotions that Liz saw before had vanished and were replaced with something different.  
Something reminding her of..

“It’s out of fucking **love**. Ok?”

There was a short silent moment, in which Liz was sure her head either exploded or the world just decided to end.  
To all the stress she had from having a gun pressing into her jaw, this was way bigger.

Oh boy.  
Oh shit.  
He just said the word.  
**The. Word.**

“Can’t have people get fucking suspisous, now can we? You understand that, Mi cielo?”  
That tone of voice.  
It was warm and soft and caring but, in the same moment, absolut spine chilling for Lisa.

“I won’t let her take you away from me.”  
Her?  
But there was no time to think, before Vaas continued his monolog.

“And not only that, oh no! I get it now, i get it. No, really! I fucking get it.”  
The chuckles really didn’t help.  
Her brain was jumping between the panic of the word and the gun. 

“You’re like a red wine. Aren't you, Nena?”  
Ok.  
Now things got complicated.  
How did he just jump to wine?  
“But not just some bullshit wine. Oh fuck no! You are the best fucking red wine out there, baby.”

Liz. He said it’s important.  
Focus on the words for now.  
You can still freak out later.  
Just remember.  
_In and Out._

“Can’t just pour you into my glass and drink you down, no, no, no. That is not how it’s fucking done! I need to sip and savour every single step along the way, mi amor.” 

The gun's pressure subsided, as it slowly made its way down her throat.  
Gliding like the deadliest feather all the way down to her chest, where it stopped over her heart.

“Until you are finally mine.”

 _Mine._  
God she hated that word.  
Liz wasn’t something to be owned.

“Vaas i-”  
A finger shushed her.

“Ah, ah. I don’t want to steal it, like you did. No, no, no. Don’t you fucking worry about that, Mi tesoro. I want you to **give** it to me. I want **you** to make yourself mine, just as you made me yours.”  
There was another shiver going down her spine. 

Sure in some other scenario this would be a super romantic monologue, but not like this. 

Not only had they just started dating.  
They still knew next to nothing about each other.  
They had been on one date.  
**ONE!**  
Vaas was a horrible person and clearly missed some pickles in his jar. 

Oh also did she forgett to mention the fucking **GUN** that was pointing **AT HER CHEST**? 

You know?  
The same gun, that was pointed at her head, fired with no ammunition to then be pointed at her **again. Loaded.**.

Apparently Vaas finally catched on to her steadily building panic, because the pressure on her chest eased a bit.  
“Still thinking about it?”  
“I..It is really hard not to.” Especially with his Killcount.  
It was a bit of a surprise to herself, but Liz's voice sounded somewhat stable.

A single huffed laugh and a few forehead to forehead rubs with closed eyes later, Vaas face and voice changed to a more serious note.

“Nena, if i were to pull this fucking trigger.”  
The gun was drawing little circles on her chest, before it got lifted off entirely.  
“I might as well just-”  


“ **Stop it!** ”  


The barrel didn’t even get close to touching Vaas temple, before Liz hand sprung into action, grabbing his wrist and pressing it, past his head and shoulder so it couldn’t reach its destination.

Two very big and surprised eyes looked down on her.  
“Please..”  
She still kept her hand on his wrist, but released all the tension in her arm to a point of barely holding on.  
He wouldn’t have any trouble in pressing against her anyway.  
Liz just managed to do this, because he wasn’t expecting it. 

“Please stop pointing this thing around! I don’t care if you don’t plan on firing it! I’m just.. I can’t take this right now, Vaas. Please. Stop.”  
There were tears falling down her cheeks.  
Why did it scare her further than death, to even think, that Vaas would put the gun to his own head?  
Why was this so much worse as the feeling of this metal on herself? 

The movement started very slow, but in the end Vaas did put his arm down and behind his back, holstering the gun again.  
Liz had let her hand slip off at the halfway point, closing her eyes, covering them, to try and get a grip on herself.

“Hate to break it to you, Nena, but you better get fucking used to this type of shit.” 

Vaas was holding her cheek with his right hand, the left rested on her shoulder close to her throat, letting his thumb lazily stroke down her pulse, while he whispered in her ear.

“It’s good. It’s really fucking good if you’re scared. It really sells it, but.”  
Oh great. He was using his way to nice and way to insane voice again.

“But. If you can’t even fucking listen to the shit people tell you anymore. That is not good. That won’t fucking do.”  
So it was really going to happen more often?  
Did he just say ‘People’?

“There will be times, where you have to deal with that shit yourself, Mi vida. I can’t fucking save your pretty little ass around the wrong people, Corazón. And if you can’t fucking behave then.. I might lose you.”

The words themself were scary.  
They indicated horrible things were to come.  
But the really worrying thing about his words, had to be the shiver.  
Vaas fucking shivered.  
It was light and nearly unnoticeable, but it was still there.  
Whatever he was exactly talking about, scared him and if there was something that scared Vaas, then Liz should be terrified to the core.

“Ok.” It took her a bit, but Liz managed to take her hands off her face and give him two confident nods.  
“I’ll keep that in mind.”  
She still wasn’t ok and it would take time to fully calm down, but at least they got away from this horrible gun situation, even if it was just for now.

Their embrace went on for a few more silent minutes.  
Just enjoying each other's presence.  
It was such a weird situation. 

After last night and this trainwreck right now, she felt weirdly ok, being in this not so ok position, hugging and being hugged by Vaas.  
He had snaked his right arm back around her back and put his head on top of hers, while Liz was holding his back.  
The only thing that was a bit worrying was the thumb stroking her pulse. 

It was so peaceful.

All until a stomach rumble filled the room.  
It was shortly followed by Liz's silent giggle.  
“Oh that’s fucking funny to you?”  
“Yes.” God it felt great to grin again. 

Actually, now that Liz was a bit less on edge, she could take the room in again.  
“..You didn’t touch your breakfast.”  
The basket was still in its same position.  
“My what?”  
“I made breakfast. It’s cold by now, but that shouldn’t be an issue.” 

After a good minute of nothing, Liz tapped Vaas back twice.  
“Don’t you want to eat?”  
“I like this.”  
There it was again.  
That sweet little whisper voice.  
“Don’t wanna let go.”  
Vaas started to very gently rock them from side to side.

“I uhm.” Liz could practically feel the blush on her face.  
Yeah, she was definitely doing better, if her body betrayed her like this again.  
“It is nice, but i do need to check on my work outside. Also you should really eat something, you still look tired.” 

“You’ll run away, when I let go?”  
Ok now that was just unfair.  
He sounded so small and hurt.  
“I won’t. Promise.”  
It was a very deep sigh that danced across her head, before Vaas let go and stepped back.

Liz was fast to check the outsides.  
Nothing much had changed except the temperature rising even further.  
Her crates were the same, so she just carefully opened them to flip the fungi so they could dry properly.  
The berry seeds on the other hand had finished the process, so she took her little tinfoil plate and brought it inside.

Vaas was sitting at the table, looking rather confused.  
“What’s this?”  
“Hm?” Liz let her eyes wander from Vaas to the plate.  
The Pfannkuchen were still in perfect shape.  
“Pfannkuchen. You know.. Pancakes, but the german variant. I didn’t have any milk, soo.. i had to improvise.” 

After setting the tinfoil down, Liz grabbed the jar of jam and put a bit on the top Pfannkuchen.  
She spread it and rolled it together.  
“Aaand then you just eat them.”  
With that she bit into it and let herself fall into the second chair. 

It tasted a bit like home.  
“Wasn’t that supposed to be mine?”  
Vaas' head was resting on his hand, looking over with a big grin.  
“Well thaf waf before fou defifed fo foint a fun af me.” 

After a short moment of watching her eat, he copied her movements and rolled up a Pfannkuchen.  
“Just make sure you don’t spill the jam when you bite down.”

She didn’t look at him, while he ate, even though she somehow anticipated the first bite.  
It just felt weird.  
She made that food for him and while it was a nice thought before, she now felt giddy and weird and crushy.  
So instead, Liz finished her Pfankuchen with closed eyes, enjoying the taste for a bit longer.

“Not bad. This shit is actually pretty fucking good.”  
Now she was really feeling giddy!

After finishing her food, Liz used some of the rainwater they gathered in the rain basin to water the greenhouses plants and spay down the mosses and mushrooms.  
It wasn’t exactly her job, but Liz needed something to do and having Vaas stare at her while he ate, was not good for her heart rate.  
The humidity raised by a good 5-10%, but that was what greenhouses were for. 

This was nice.  
All the insanity happening aside.  
Just a weirdly peaceful moment enjoying lunch/breakfast and just each other's company.

“So. German, hu? That where you from?” Vaas took another generous bite, but kept looking at her.  
“Yeah. I’m a little surprised you didn’t know that.”  
“How am I supposed to tell? You don’t have the fucking accent.”  
Now that just wasn’t true! 

“I do have an accent! It’s just lighter than what people are used to. Let me guess. You mean zis accent? ze one zey uze in ze movies?”  
Giving the laughter that followed her presentation, she hit the nail on the head.  
“That one! Yes!” 

“Well that is just an over top thing. Or from people who haven't learned english for that long. I mean i learned my first english with 4 an-”  
“You should make it more known.” 

“What?” This time she turned to him fully.  
Vaas looked back at her. Calculating and serious.  
“Let’s just say there are people who will like that about you a lot more than you think. Mention it more often, that you’re from there.”  
With that his entire focus seemed to go back to the plate and the last few bites of food.  
Aside from the words being confusing as hell, it sounded ominous. 

The newfound silence didn’t last for long.  
“I hate your shirt.”  
Vaas was sitting in his chair, leaning back and.. just watched her.  
“It’s from that old fuck, isn’t it? Why the fuck are you wearing that?”

“I.. well first of, could you stop calling him that? And secondly, well.. My top is ruined and i don’t have any clothes here yet, so I borrowed one from Alec.”  
Man, this poor fern she had been sitting on.. hopefully it was gonna be alright.  
Liz tried and squished the earth a bit around it, to set it upright again.

Now she could really feel the eyes burning into her back.  
“Have you been wearing the same fucking shit since..?”  
“Don’t. I. Well. Lets just say my plans for today include going home and finally bringing some of my clothes over here. And honestly the more i think about it, the more i just want to sleep in my bed again.”

Liz let out a long sigh.  
“I mean, sure, the guest room bed is **way** more comfy than mine, but it’s just different when you sleep in your own home you know?”

God she missed it.  
Her leaf pile with blankets as a bed.  
Her lights.  
The fresh air inside.  
Not to mention a hidden cave was just so much safer than a mansion out in the open. 

“So, you’re going back there tonight?”  
There was a big grin on Vaas face.  
Oh no. No she was not standing for this.  
“Why? Do you want to send someone to stalk me again?”  
Maybe sassy wasn’t the smartest idea.  
This was still Vaas after all.  
But it was about her home!

“Isn’t it a bit unfair that I don't know where you live, while you know where to find me?”  
He could really tone down that smug grin.  
“Well, I don't have a big ol’ welcome sign, like you do.”  
“I'm just interested to see what you call home.”

Somehow, this statement made her feel embarrassed.  
What would he think of her home?  
A small cave in the jungle.  
Basically no real furniture.  
Her storage was kept in Backpacks.  
No bathroom, no electricity, no running water.  
You could really call it more of a savage nest than an actual home.  
Compared to the compound it was pathetic. 

Thinking of it, Liz never went into the small hut, she was able to determine Vaas sleeping chambers.  
It was outside, just next to the biggest building.  
She wasn’t suicidal and it never occurred to her on her ‘shopping trips’ to even throw a glance inside.  
It would be a lie to say that she wasn’t a little bit curious by now.  
Still, whatever was in there, her home was dirt compared to it and Liz couldn’t fight off a bit of shame. 

“Maybe someday, but we're not there yet. I’m Sorry. You already know about the beach and the mansion. Depending on what your little stalkers told you, even my brothers place in Bad Town. Sorry Vaas, but i am not showing you my last safe haven.” 

The disappointment was showing, but instead of making it vokal, Vaas just kept on watching her tend to the plants.

The silence was, at first, nice and calm, but as the minutes went by, it became unnerving.  
Vaas was just _watching_ her.  
No comments, no movement.  
Like a statue.  
It made not thinking about everything that just happened, really hard.  
And Liz had to keep her calm, at least until she got home tonight. 

Hearing Alec open the mansion door and calling for her, was like a godsent.  
“I’m coming. Just a sec.”  
It was really hard to walk casually and not sprint out of this uncomfortably silent room.

The old doctor was standing just outside the mansion with a little piece of paper.  
“My dear I ran into a little problem. I will need these by tomorrow.”  
The note stated a few certain flowers.

“I know i am not supposed to do this, but if you could go out and bring these to me, I could watch over your mushrooms for the time being. You wanted to go home today anyway, right?”  
Liz just gave him a slow nod, already thinking about a route to take. 

“Sure, I'll go do that then. See you tomorrow?”  
“Please be careful out there.”  
“Always.”

This time, Liz used the actual door to the greenhouse.  
Her backpack and gear were resting right next to it.  
Down on one knee, Liz got out her little notebook and flipped it open.  
It was a short list of 3 different flower kinds.  
Two of them grew around the regions of Huberts Folly and the mountain ranges of North Cradle.  
The last flower was found in the region of Murder Summit. 

Perfect.  
She basically just had to take a bit of a hike home with a few stops along the way.

Looking up, Vaas was standing in the furthest corner, staring out of the window, phone on his ear.  
He was fully geared up this time. 

“Ok.. ok. Alright. Ok. I’ll get it done.”  
Now that was.. unsettling.  
Why did he sound so calm and.. timid even?  
“Yeah. See you there. Bye.”  
With that the call seemed to end.

“Are you ok?” Somehow Liz really wanted to give him a hug again.  
“Course, Nena. Fucking dandy even!.”  
After turning around Vaas seemed to look her up and down again.  
“You’re leaving?” It sounded so.. disappointed?  
“Yeah. I had a change of plans. Alec needs some plants to finish his work. So I'm heading off to get them. I can’t continue my stuff until my shroomies are dry anyway.” 

It was hard to put the grin in a direction. It was sweet, anticipating but fucking creepy.  
“Where’re you heading?”  
“Mostly over near Murder Summit and North Cradle. Why?”  
“Just like to know where you are.”  
“Vaas. I swear, if you follow me home, I'll never trust you again, with anything.”  
Following the frown thrown her way, the message was received. 

With her gear on her back and ready to leave Liz turned to the door.  
“Well.. it was nice... If you ever need someone to talk to again, I'm here for you. See you around.”  
This was awkward.  
Would it be a dick move to just leave like that? 

“Nos vemos pronto, mi amor.” 

Gathering the flowers was easy.  
Her mind just made it hard.  
It just kept drifting around between nearly dying and Vaas saying.. it. 

It was all she could think about.

Coming home should have felt great.  
Instead Liz felt horrible, when she turned on her little fairy lights, that lit the cave.  
Thankfully everything was still in place, but it felt.. meh.  
Her usual emotion of ‘Yay no animal took over my place’ was suddenly a really weird thought.

Liz should really up her game a bit more.  
Her tools for tinkering were in their little satchel on the ground.  
Same for her feather jar, her Pens for the map, the pebble collection, her Backpacks, all her supplies.  
It was all on the ground shoved into various necks and crannies of the open space.

Maybe she should build herself some form of a desk.  
Or just a small table in general.  
But if she told Flo about this, he would be mad that he didn’t get to help.  
And she couldn’t show him this place and bringing a finished table all the way here would suck and definitely catch some unwanted attention.  
Why was everything so complicated?

The only good thing was that Liz had found the feather of a parrot.  
It was just a short green and yellow feather, but she really liked it and it would make a nice addition to her jar. 

A fresh change of clothes and a packed backpack later, Liz let herself fall into the sheets.  
The leaves under her ‘bed’ were all dried out and crunchy by now.  
She would have to switch them tomorrow. 

All it took was 5 minutes, laying in her nest and staring at the dim Fairy Light ‘sky’ over her, to get the bad thoughts away. 

She did this all herself.  
Nobody knew about the location of this place.  
This was **her** secret hideout.  
Yes, it was minimalistic, but it was home. 

Most days, she just came here to sleep, so she never had a real reason to add more things.  
It was functional and sweet.  
She remembered braiding and leading the plants to completely cover the entrance.  
How she got the idea for the thick curtain to block a lot of noise.  
What a pain in the ass it was to install it. 

As a bystander a pile of leaves with a bunch of blankets may sound sad, but once you really snuggled into it, it was really comfy and felt so safe.  
It also stored your body heat very well, for cold nights.  
Rolling up in a ball, Liz killed the lights with a smile. 

Home sweet home.

Falling asleep took ages.  
Everytime Liz closed her eyes, her mind went back to what happened.  
She had been so scared.  
It still made near to no sense to her.

Vaas said, Liz would have to get used to being held at gunpoint.  
Why?  
And why point out to people that she was german?  
Why would that be important?  
It had nothing to do with who she was as a person. 

None of this made sense.

They had a few really peaceful moments in the last 24hours.  
Thinking of it, her stomach bursted out in happy tingles.  
_Not bad. This shit is actually pretty fucking good._  
It shouldn’t make her this happy, but her face burned, thinking that he liked it. 

Liz's hand subconsciously wandered under her chin, where the gun had pressed in her lower jaw.  
It still felt cold, as if the metal never left.  
_Every single fucking time i do this, it is out of fucking **love**._

Love. 

Did this really happen?  
Did Vaas really fall in love with _her_ out of all people?  
There were so much better choices out there.  
Was Vaas even aware that he just told her that to the face?

It had become obvious to her, that this was more than just a crush or ‘falling for your saviour’ thing during their date.  
Aside from the short mention of it during their talk at the beach, the incident in the compound was never brought up.  
Instead he nearly exclusively talked about the things he learned about her after that.  
And oh boy did he obsess with that stuff.  
So yeah.  
Liz kind of already knew Vaas had been obsessed and well, in love with her.  
She knew it since then. 

Still hearing him actually use that word to describe what was going on inside him, felt like a punch right in her butterfly filled gut. 

But that wasn’t the same for her.  
It wasn’t the same set of feelings.

She wasn’t...  


Liz may be crushing hard right now, but this wasn’t love yet.

Thinking about all the nice things..  
It made her warm and tingly and just overwhelmed.  
But it wasn’t love. 

She was scared.

This situation felt a lot like, what she felt at home with _him_.  
Liz really didn’t want to think about it now.  
It was time to sleep. 

After all, this could take a lot of turns and, from what she could tell, Vaas actually meant it.  
That was already a big difference, to back then.  
Or at least that’s what she hoped.

Well.  
She would have enough time to figure it out in the future.  
It wasn’t like the both of them were going anywhere.

Such a weird word.  
_Love_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The word has fallen!
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed the new chapter!  
> It, again, turned out WAY longer than i suspected. :D
> 
> As always: Giant thanks to VnzlHills for the spanish bits! Hope i didn't spoiler you too hard. :)
> 
> Also thanks for 100 Kudos!  
> I am so overwhelmed by this, you can't believe it!


	25. There is a song stuck in my head

Honestly?  
After the rainy day, filled with study and worry for Alec, followed by that exhausting night with a bloody and sleep deprived Vaas, which then got followed by the most terrifying day of her life, with a close up meet and greet with his pistol and a confession she wasn’t ready for, Liz really enjoyed walking through the jungle in peace for once.  
Just her, the trees and nature. 

No Vaas.  
No Pistol.  
No unsettling feelings.  
No pressure.  
No fear.

Just some peace and quiet on her little hike over the island.

The weather was nice.  
The spiked heatwave from yesterday seemed to have blown past. Temperatures were nice and warm, instead of that seething heat.  
The humidity was still high, but in the normal range for the jungle lush, forming a very thin layer on her skin.  
The slightest wind, cooling her down, was carrying the melodie that Liz had stuck in her head for the past hour. 

_”Da da da dat da~, dat da da da da ya da~”_

The flowers for Alec were sitting in a container in her backpack.  
Together with her bow and gear, everything was rocking gently from side to side with every step she made over the uneven jungle floor.

The air was fresh and filled with the smell of countless different jungle flowers, opening their petals for the sunny day, inviting all kinds of insects and kritters into their vicinity. 

A few bumblebees landed, adorable as always, on a bush of jungle flame flowers in full bloom.  
Technically, Liz did have some more time to get back to the mansion, so she decided to watch them buzz around from flower to flower for a bit longer.

Those fuzzy, fluffy butts wig-waggiling while the entire front was jammed down deep between the petals.  
All those small adorable legs brushing the pollen all over the fuzz.  
God it was so cute.  
To think this thick little bug was going to carry up to 75% of its body weight in pollen back home to it’s hive and then make honey from it. 

Thinking of it, what would jungle honey taste like?  
Would it be more like blossom honey or more like the little more bitter forest honey?  
How did she never think of it?

Wouldn’t that be like a new delicatess?  
Jungle honey!  
Why sell drugs to dubious people, if you could just start a beekeeping business and sell that liquid gold to gourmet restaurants?  
There had to be a market for that!

On the other hand, it could cause a lot of damage too..  
Who on this island would give a flip, if the bumblebees were happy?  
Industrial beekeeping...  
Nah, better not bring it up to any of the locals.  
Let the bumblebees be adorable little workers in peace.

Liz crouched down to look even closer at the little bug.  
“Wir sind nicht so verschieden, du und ich. (You and I are not so different from each other.)” 

When you looked at it from the right angle, Liz was also just a bumblebee.  
Maybe not as strong and.. round, but she was also traveling over the island, collecting ingredients.  
Ingredients that she would most likely turn into her own form of _”jungle honey”_ that most people on the island enjoyed so much, they were literally addicted to it. 

Its own weird form of a delicatess. 

A deep sigh left Liz, as she got up to continue walking.  
Just in time for the last bumblebee to start flying home. 

It didn't get far. 

Like a black flash of horror, something big snatched it mid flight.  
A big black bug.  
The weight of the attacker was pulling the bumblebee down, despite all its efforts to keep flying and getting away, until they hit the ground.  
Now Liz could take a better look at what monstrosity just decided over the poor bugs fate.

A warrior wasp. 

The most terrifying bug Liz had ever seen.  
The emphasis was on ‘Bug’, tarantulas were still worse than this, but still. 

It was about 6,4cm (2,5inches) long.  
Nearly five to six times the size of the bumblebee.  
A jet black, long body with reddish black wings.  
Big jaws, that reminded her a lot more of a stag beetle than anything else, were grabbing the poor little worker while a giant stinger kept jabbing into it. 

Once the poison started to paralyze the bumblebee, the wasp proceeded to bite huge chunks out of the small, still alive, body in its grasp, with the mandibles at its mouth.

The battle had been short and unfair.  
Nature could be so cruel.  
This island was cruel.  
Survival of the fittest.  
The strong consume the weak.  
Eat or get eaten. 

A ghostlike touch of cold metal manifested on her pulse.  
It sent a shiver down Lisas spine, causing her to touch the spot with her hand. 

Nothing. 

No gun. 

No danger. 

No Vaas.

Everything was ok.  
With a short sigh, Liz continued on her way.

_”You say~ da da dada da, da da da, da da da da da pay~.”_

Once again, the song stuck in her head started over from the beginning.  
It was one of those stupid situations, where you knew exactly what song it was, but somehow the lyrics and name just erased themselfs from your mind.

Something amazing about the jungle was its constant changing form.  
You could walk for 15 minutes and pass thick lush and open fields just like that. 

The more Liz paid attention to it, the more she could spot different flowers.  
Orchids.  
A vine of passion flowers.  
A few Bromeliads.  
Gladiolus.  
Jungle flame flower bushes. 

Even some of those Amazon lilies, that Liz had first seen on her date.  
They were growing sparsely between different bushes.  
The more she paid attention to them, the more it seemed, as if the lilies grew everywhere. 

You know what?  
After everything that happened, Liz was going to treat herself for today.  
All her Problems, the stress, the drugs, the delivery, they all could wait.  
Now it was time for a little mental healthcare.

So, during her little stroll towards the mansion, a small bouquet of flowers slowly gathered in her hands. 

_”.. me ma~d. Dadada~ dada da dada da~. Da~ Da~ -Man~.”_

Liz was climbing up one of the few high mountains of the northern island.  
Surely there had to be more flowers up here.  
The incline was steep, but there was near no place on this hunk of rock, Liz didn’t know how to get to.  
Once she reached the top, she looked back over the island. 

It was breathtaking. 

A sapphire blue ocean, meeting white sand.  
The cliffs and beaches were glistening in incomparable beauty. 

Behind them the treelines were hiding all hell and misery, as if it didn’t exist.  
Big jungle trees, the lush and other plant life looked so peaceful, gently rocking in the slight breeze.

It was well hidden, but beneath all the leaves was a world filled with life.  
Animals big and small, prey and predator.

All moving, hunting and living in this fucked up ecosystem of beauty and death.  
Between the trees and nature, she could make out the different small settlements, inhabiting the biggest predator of rook. 

Humans. 

If you could even call most of them that.  
It wasn’t that this place was far from usual civilisation.  
It wasn’t what most people would call the “savagery” of this place.  
The uncharted area and “wild” people.  
No.  
Those were just the different cultures clashing together.

In fact, from the minimalistic amount of natives she met, that weren’t warriors, and Crystals stories of ”It’s not _all_ bad.”, there were people in the native tribe, who were more human than most others who came from everywhere in the world to this place. 

No.  
It was the lack of humanity in people.  
Compassion, Kindness, Empathy.  
People looking out for each other, helping each other out, taking care of each other, being there for each other.  
Acts of human decency.  
There was no such thing in them. 

Instead most of them were heartless, mercyless, cruel, sadistic and had no regards for anyone but themselves.  
As long as their actions benefited them, everything was “ok to do”.  
There were no “no-go’s”.  
If someone was on the ground, they stepped on them, just for fun.  
Just to make sure, **they** were on top.  
**They** won.  
**They** were the strongest and to be feared.  
Those people weren’t human. 

It was a cruel world she was trapped in.  
As long as she was herself, people would see her as weak and vulnerable. 

Liz didn’t f-ing care.  
She wasn’t going to fall.  
She was human and she was going to be one until she died. 

Her family, her friends, her future, her dreams, most of her freedom.  
Rook took it all from her. 

Every day, she could lose everything she still had, if she took a wrong step.  
Everyday her life could find a horrible end.  
But no matter what happened, the one thing, this island wasn’t going to take from her, was being who she was. 

The jungle was silent, for the time she watched it.  
No sounds of life, no gunshots or screams.  
Just the leaves in the wind and the melodie in her head.

_”Da~ da da, da da daha~”_

Liz stretched out her hand and let the wind take away the flowers, she collected.

_”Da da da, da da da da,- to me~”_

After watching them fall, dancing down with the wind, into the deadly abyss, she got up and turned around. 

_”Da~ da da, Da- will telll~”_

The beach was beautiful today. 

The water was glistening in a deep sapphire color.  
Liz sat down at the shore, with her shoes off and let the ocean kiss her toes. 

_”Da, da da, da da, da- served you well."_

A bit further out front was the rock they had been sitting on.  
The thought of their conversation, brought a smile to her face. 

It was as if she could see them sit out there, with her fishing and Vaas trying to figure out what he wanted to say. 

After a short moment of her watching the two shadows sitting out there, something moved in the corner of her eye.  
Smaller than a person, but big enough to be a threat. 

It was Dave.  
Not only was it Dave, but it was Dave up close and personal.  
Liz stayed calm.

Usually her big friend was keeping a good 3 Meter (9,8feet) distance from her and only came close to her when he was hungry.  
Liz would throw whatever she had to feed him and he would catch it to then lay on one of the closer rocks to her. 

Komodos were pretty damn intelligent lizards.  
Over the course of her time on the island, they had slowly built a relationship causing the Komodo dragon to learn that she was not food and not an enemy either, as she would bring easy food, everytime she was here.  
Ever since the reptile realised that, the distance he kept after feeding was continuously shrinking.

Sometimes he even seemed to react to his name.  
Her goal was to be seen as some kind of kin at one point, because how amazing would it be, to have a pet Komodo?  
Or not ‘pet’ per say.  
Friend. 

Now he was right next to her, flicking his long tongue through the air, smelling.  
Liz had nothing on herself to feed the giant venomous lizard, but instead of snacking on her, Dave just laid down in the warm sand next to her. 

It took a moment until Liz felt really brave and gently started to pat the thick scaly skin on the back of Dave's long neck.  
At first there was twitch, before he seemed to lean in. 

They sat there in silence, giving each other company. 

_”Da da da dat da, dat da da da da ya da~”_

It was hard to tell how long she sat there with Dave, but a new set of footsteps made it’s way over to her in the sand. 

“Ja.. Ok. Also ich wollte dich ja eigentlich erschrecken, aber mit, wie meintest du? Dave? Jaaa, ich bleib mal lieber hier.” (Yeah.. Ok. Well, i wanted to jump scare you, but with.. what did you say? Dave? Yeaah, I’ll just stay here.)

The slightly laughing voice was unmistakable.  
Flo was standing behind her, a bit off to the side. 

“Wäre aber trotzdem cool, wenn du rüber kommen würdest. Das Essen ist nämlich fertig.” (It would still be cool, if you could come over, cause the food is ready.)

Giving Dave a few last pats, Liz got up and turned around to follow her brother. 

He was wearing sunglasses up on his bald head, which was already slightly red from the sunshine.  
Flo was topless in bathing shorts, proudly showing off his, now, flat belly that was showing first signs of tiny abs.

Being a farmers child and a learned carpenter, he always had strong arms, but he still got that beer belly over the years.  
She remembered, Flo had started working out like a madman and how he had completely flipped his diet, maybe a year before they came to Rook.

It was to make sure he would look good for the wedding…

And now that they were on Rook, he took every opportunity to stay in shape, just in case he had to defend himself or haul a passed out idiot out of the bar.  
After all, he was the barkeep and therefore his own bouncer at the same time.

Liz was proud of him. 

Just past Florian, maybe 5 Meters (16feet) off the shore, was a big picnic table. 

Jonas was just finishing setting down the last few plates, filled with food.  
He was also in bathing clothing, but had a very loose and wide, white muscle top on. 

The plates were full with Steak, Bratwurst, grilled seafood and grilled Vegetables.  
Of course he was in charge of the barbecue.  
When was he not?  
If something fit on the grill, he would throw it on and see how good it tasted.

“Uhm Liz, Honey? I don’t think it is such a good idea to have that thing follow you around..”  
Crystal was sitting on one of the benches looking at her concerned. 

Her beach dress was black on the shoulders and chest but got lighter and lighter towards her knees, where the dress stopped.  
It went so well with her caramel skin and the gently falling open, long, black, curly hair.  
The thin gold necklace was resonating with her amber eyes. 

She looked stunning as always.

Somehow Liz remembered now, that she invited her to join them to this little party.

“Absolutely.” Alec was sitting on the other bench, facing Crystal.  
“These reptiles are venomous in fact. The dragon's venom rapidly decreases blood pressure, expedites blood loss, and sends a victim into shock, rendering it too weak to fight.”  
The old chemist was wearing his usual clothes, but clean and seemed to have left his green-gray-ish jaket at home. 

“Oh, don’t worry, he is a good boy. I’ll just give him some food and he’ll be nice.”  
Liz sat down next to Crystal, Flo was across her, next to Alec and Jonas sat down at the head of the table, on a camping chair, clapping his hands together once.

“Well everyone, an Gutn’! (Enjoy your meal!)”  
With that they all started eating.

The conversations flipped between Florians new hobby of braiding metal pearls into his beard, Jonas amazing grilling skills, a new book Alec was reading and Crystal's ideas for new figures she wanted to try out for her pole dancing. 

This was wonderful.  
Laughing, joking, little banter.  
Her family and friends together, having fun. 

_”Da dada~, Da dada~, and ever, and ever, and e~ver~”_

The music in her head got a bit louder and slower, drowning out most of her friends' words.

There was a loud noise and everyone started laughing. 

Dave had come over and put his front legs up the table, flicking his tongue for food.  
He took a grilled calamari from the plate closest to him and started gobbling it down.

The next time he went for a bite, Dave seemed a bit overachieving, slamming his head down on the table in a loud bang. 

_“Da da -back~, like before~. Da da da the fight and da da war.”_

Everybody continued laughing, but Dave didn’t move again.  
Looking at the others, they seemed unfaced. 

Still eating, enjoying themselves. 

_“For da da, for your praise~, da da da da till my dying days.”_

There was another loud bang, when a wave crashed down on the, now way closer, shore.

Next to her, Crystal wasn’t sitting upright anymore.  
Her face was down on her plate. 

Again, nobody stopped laughing.

Wanting to jump up from the table, Liz couldn’t move her hands anymore.  
Looking down, her wrists were in cuffs, connected by a metal chain, that was bolted into the table. 

The table flashed for half a second to an old, wooden table she had seen before, before it was the picnic table again.

_“When you’re gone~, i'll go mad.~“_

There was another loud noise, ripping through the melodie. 

Alec had fallen over backwards from the bench.  
His face was in the sand, red splatters all around him.  
A wave from the ocean hit him. 

The ocean begann directly next to the table.  
It was red. 

Like blood.

_“So, don’t throw away this thing we had.~”_

The song was all around her. 

It was now that she realized, it had never been her own voice.

It had never been **in** her head.

Her own body forced Liz to turn her face towards the treeline. 

No.

Vaas was slowly walking over, singing the song, gesturing the words, like a musical, all while holding the gun in his right hand. 

The final lyrics streamed back into her mind, terrifying Liz to her core, of what she now knew, was to come. 

“ ‘Cause when push, comes to shove~”

All of a sudden Liz was standing on the shore.  
The blooded ocean was in her back. 

Flo and Jonas were blocking Vaas' way to her, like a wall, ready to defend her.  
They were yelling something, probably for him to back off, but all she could hear was the melodie and the footsteps, that sounded like an empty hallway, despite all the sand around them.

She couldn’t close her eyes. 

He didn’t let her. 

Vaas was staring right past her brothers, ignoring them fully, only focused on her. 

Liz felt small and weak and hunted. 

She wanted to scream.  
No.  
Please.  
Stop it!  
**Please!**

Her mouth didn’t move.  
Her body didn’t move.  
She didn’t breathe.  
Liz was frozen in place.

For a split second, she saw the vision of the gold and black creature again, but this time, there was no balance.  
The shadow swallowed all the light, before it turned back into its human shape. 

“I will~”

A flash of black.  
Jonas and Florian were facedown in the sand.  
Red waves were crashing against their bodies.

“kill your friends and family~” 

Liz was standing belly deep in the ocean.  
Vaas was not even an arms length from her. 

In the waters surrounding them, were bodies.  
Alec.  
Crystal.  
Flo.  
Jonas.

All her friends who came here with her.  
Tobias, Katrin, Annika, Ben, Eugen, Harri, Karsten, Max, Niels, Paul, Rüdiger, Theo and Sophie.  
All of them.  
Even the two people who were on the boat with them, who tried to escape the same night. 

They all floated around in the thick, red liquid. 

Dead.

“To remind~ you~”

Liz couldn’t move.  
Behind her, out of the ocean depths, the Vaas-creature had appeared again.  
Black shadow arms were holding her in a tight grip.  
It’s claws were digging into her flesh.

“off~”

A second pair of arms seemed to grow from the creature, grabbing her head and making her look straight at the Vaas in front of her, showered in her family's blood. 

The pistol was pointed directly at her forehead.

“my~” 

The creature gave the back of her head a kiss, opposite of the gun, before pressing it’s forehead against the same spot. 

“ _ **love.**_ ”

With a silent scream, Liz sat upright in her nest.  
Her breathing was heavy, but it felt like she didn’t get any oxygen. 

It took her nearly 15 minutes of sitting with her back to the wall, covered in all her blankets and eyes darting across the dark cavern, to get her breathing under control again. 

It was just a dream, Liz.  
Just a dream.  
It was fine.  
She was fine.

She was alone, in her cave, that nobody knew the location of. 

It was just a bad dream. 

Liz needed something to focus on right now and the sun would be up in a good hour or so.  
Her Fairy lights stayed out, but Liz took her flashlight and put it in a hole in the wall.  
Like that the light was shining in the spot she wanted, while at the same time no light was escaping out her cave, keeping her home hidden. 

Sitting down with her bow in hand, Liz got her tool out and began taking off the string.  
It was a good distraction from her nightmare, to tinker a bit. 

She didn’t manage to actually improve anything, her mind was too troubled, but it still helped with her panic.

The sun had already fully risen, when Liz arrived at the mansion.  
Getting there had been… difficult. 

Liz had managed to navigate herself on a safe route, but each and every time there were just the most silent remains of a gunshot echoing over the island, her body locked up and she needed a moment to gather herself.  
Her eyes were constantly checking out her surroundings, more than usual, to make sure no one was following her.  
Every small sound was immediately cataloged and investigated, also a lot more than usual.  
Even if she knew it was just a frog. 

Her head always imagined her stalker date could stand there.

Alec was already in the greenhouse preparing everything for his delivery that was due tomorrow.  
Just seeing him sit there, alive and breathing, lifted some of the weight from her shoulders. 

“Good morning Alec.”  
Liz put the flowers on the table.  
“I’m sorry it took so long.” 

The old doctor turned to her with a bright smile.  
“Agnes! Good morning my dear. Did you sle- Is something wrong?”  
The smile had turned into worry, once he took a closer look at her. 

Was it that obvious?  
“I… didn’t sleep well, but it’s ok.”  
It took a bit more convincing, but Alec seemed to understand pretty fast, that she wasn’t going to talk about it.  
So instead, he helped her get distracted, by explaining the next few steps for the firefly. 

Today was the second last day.  
Tomorrow someone was coming to pick up her delivery.  
She didn’t know who, she didn’t know when exactly.  
The only thing she knew for sure, was that it all had to be perfect or Liz was doomed. 

Fortunately, the extreme heat of yesterday had helped a lot and her ingredients were finally all dry.  
She had to grind every ingredient into a fine powder, mix them together and grind everything again. 

With careful hands and her mask, Liz opened the first mushroom crate.  
You weren't able to look inside the crates anymore, as the thin bug nets were covered in blankets of spores. 

It took a lot of slow movements and a skilled eye hand coordination, to peel the “blankets” of gathered spores off and gently set them into a plastic bag.  
The mushrooms had shrunken down to a bad excuse of their former volume and also landed in a separate plastic bag.  
Now all she needed were her dried red berries, the grey berry-seeds and the herbs. 

“Would you like some tea?”  
It had to be the tenth time of Alec asking her this in the past 5 hours.  
He was obviously worried about her and Liz appreciated it, but what was she supposed to tell him?

_”Oh, you know. Vaas just confessed his love while threatening my life with a gun. Not only me but he also showed some suicidal tendencies.  
Then i had a nightmare where he killed everyone I love after stalking me for hours singing the song that I was afraid of could become the theme of our ‘Thing’, even though he promised me he wouldn’t turn us into this.  
Now I am terrified of every little gun sound on an island filled with trigger happy maniacs and I don't know how to feel or what to do.”_

Yeah, no.  
She wasn’t going to tell him that.  
But at the end of the day, that wasn’t all the things she worried about.

So, not even 10 minutes later, both of them were sitting together at the mansions kitchen table.  
“I.. I am worried about tomorrow.”  
Liz was playing a bit with the cup in her hand.  
She knew Alec had just picked two random cups from the cupboard, but it felt weird, looking down at the tiger. 

The old man nodded and gave her a supportive smile.  
“I understand. Joining this kind of work.. Meeting the.. _customers_. It is unsettling in the beginning and with certain people it always will be. But keep in mind: As long, as your product is good and effective, you’ll be fine. I will help you as best as i can.” 

A gentle hand found its place on her arm.  
“Everything will turn out well. You are working very hard and have already made great progress. You even improved the techniques I showed you. I couldn’t imagine anyone better as my apprentice.”

Having him here, with his wrinkled smile was like a blessing.  
“Thank you, Alec.”  
He was right.  
She was making great progress. 

Liz had just finished grinding up all the mushrooms and dried red berries, which had been an absolute pain for her wrists.  
Sure for small amounts she could see the mortar and pestle as useful, but damn for a good 1,5kg of dried mushrooms… Yeah it wasn’t effective.  
To make sure none of the fine powder escaped her, Liz had used some of the tight bug net and some Zip-ties to create a form of a see-through-umbrella-lid for the mortar with just a small hole for the pestle.  
The most annoying part had to be the constant sieving of the powder to find the, still too big, pieces of shoom and fruit. 

But nonetheless, she was heading towards the finish line.  
The seeds and herbs should be ground up pretty quick, now that she had a better technique, and then the mixing process would start. 

Mixing the different powders together in the right proportions, grinding them again, one last sieving and then it would be time for the weighting process.  
3 Bags of 500g.  
Exactly. 

She was really doing this.  
Liz was going to complete a **drug** order and **sell** it to a **slaver** … 

“How does the pickup work?” Liz had to know as much as she could.  
She couldn't let anyone fool her.  
The first impression of her in this field had to be a good one.  
After all, she had to somehow get enough respekt from these guys, for them to not get any stupid ideas.

“Oh? Well someone from Mr.Volker’s direct employees usually shows up and takes the delivery to the compound on the southern island.”  
Liz started making herself a few notes on a sheet of paper. 

“And how does the payment work?”  
“That is.. a bit different from time to time… Here let me show you.” 

Alec took her paper and wrote a big Headline in the top middle-  
_Delivery process._

Unter it on the left side.  
_Privateers:_  
And on the right.  
_Pirates:_

He gave the paper back to Liz.

“If it is a request from the Tyrant he will send one or more of his men to pick it up. There is no payment until he receives and controls it.” 

“How do we make sure it arrives? Do we get a name from the person picking it up? A receipt?”  
Alec blinkend a few times at that.  
“Uhm.. no.”

“What?! So these guys can just mess us over? What if one of them just takes a bit of the delivery and then claims that it was missing from the start? ”  
There was no way that no one was going to try and mess with her! She was a fish out of water and these men would probably hate having to deal with a woman in the position she was getting into. They would definitely jump at any opportunity to tear her apart!

“Oh no, my dear. Absolutely not! You have to see: If someone was to steal from Hoyt, they would meet a fate worse than death itself. This man knows how to use the fear in his employees.  
The men he will send are professionals. The Privateers are a private army he built himself. They know that the first person to be suspected is them.  
After all, **we** are the ones who **only** get paid, **if** the delivery is in order.  
Being directly investigated by Hoyt Volker has to be the scariest thing in this world. It is a risk, these men won’t take.” 

Her face must have shown her disbelief, because the old doctor smiled again.  
“If it makes you feel safer, I could vouch for the completeness of your deliveries. In my 6 years of working for Hoyt I haven't once let something bad come to my name.”  
It would help a little bit for her state of mind, but would it help in a practical way? 

“There have never been any issues with the deliveries for Hoyt Volker. The Pirates are another thing entirely..”  
He sighed.  
“But first let’s finish talking about the men in yellow. We will receive our payment from Hoyt after he makes sure the product is good and sellable. Payment can be either money or different goods that can be requested from time to time. I would be carefull with requests in the beginning though. Let him approach you first for those things.”

Liz nodded, writing everything down. It made sense to have him approach her first. Otherwise she might look greedy and unprofessional.

“Now for the men he employs:  
If they come here to buy for themselves, they pay with money and they do that as soon as they get the goods. It’s either product we already have or they can make a request. Whatever it is they want, the deliveries for Hoyt have the highest priority, followed by the ones for Vaas. After those two, we can take care of the other requests.”

_  
Privateers:  
Delivery H.:  
-Pickup: Volker employee -> Transport -> Mr. Volker.  
Sales:  
-Either from stash or requests possible.  
Payment:  
-H. -> Money or Goods (Don’t approach first for Goods)  
-P. -> Money only_

Liz left some space on her Notes to write on the bottom line.  
_Priorities:  
Delivery H. -> Delivery V. -> Requests and sells_

“Vaas and his men are a bit different. The deliveries for Vaas are picked up by his men and, in rare occasions, himself. Even though I have to say, ever since his stay here, he is accompanying the pick up crew more often.”

Why did it feel like he did that because of Liz?  
Vaas knew she worked for Alec and the look on the doctor's face revealed, he thought the same as her.  
And after yesterday, he would surely be there for the pickup tomorrow.  
Somehow Liz's stomach curled into itself. 

With all the stress of finishing the delivery, she wouldn’t want to be there when Vaas picked up his delivery from Alec tomorrow.  
It was nearly guaranteed that he was going to show up.  
And after the trainwreck of yesterday.. 

_”It’s out of fucking **love**.”  
“Hate to break it to you, Nena, but you better get fucking used to this type of shit.”_

The words echoed in her head and rolled down her spine with a cold shiver.  
If Vaas would show up and anyone else was there.. how would he treat her?  
Would he be his normal cruel self, just to prove a point in front of his men?  
Threaten her for fun, maybe even hurt her?

Or go even further and maybe harass her, breaking their deal and then claim some bullshit like.  
‘Oh no. I didn’t mean to! It was just an act.’

“I could see some of Vaa’s men trying to steal a small amount of the delivery and try to blame it on you or try to force more product for free or discounts. They haven’t done that for me, but..”  
“It’s easier because I'm a woman.” 

The statement stood in the silent room for a moment, before Dr. Earnhardt let his shoulders fall. 

“I.. I am sorry. Agnes. I..”  
“It's ok Al. You’re not responsible for any of the macho-bullshit that is going on in this place. I mean, you and my brothers are the only ones that respect me for who I am. And I appreciate that.”  
This time it was her, who comforted the other.  


After writing down the remaining important information, Liz and Alec went back into the greenhouse.  
While she was preparing the last stepps, Dr. Earnhardt explained all the effects and every piece of bonus information he had about the drug.

Over the course of the evening, Liz finished the grinding and mixing process. 

Sleep didn’t come easy. 

There was so much on Liz's mind. 

Who, when and how was the pickup going to be?  
Would they come before, after or simultaneously with Vaas pickup?  
Was everything in order?  
Would Volker be happy with what he got?  
Was there going to be a next order right away or would she get time to breath and learn more?

The only good thing was, Volkers delivery kept her mind off Vaas for long enough to fall asleep.

As soon as the sun had begun to rise, Liz had been up working.  
Technically, all she had to do was weigh the three bags, which should have been easy. 

Should have. 

“.. I.. You always find ways to surprise me Agnes.”  
Alec seemed really amazed, as he saw Liz weighting, not only the empty bags, but also deliberately and precisely every single strap of tape on which she wrote down the content, the empty bags weight, the tapes weight, the products weight and even left space for the final weights result. 

“I am just making sure! I don’t want this guy to think I am messing him over.”

It had to be around the early afternoon, when Alec got a phone call, telling him Vaas men were on their way.

Liz was crouching between bushes down at the small waterfall.  
Her position was quite a bit off the path, leading up to the mansion.  
Giving her perfect sight on the road. 

It was hard to hear over the waterfall, but Liz could make out the rattling of metal.

Someone had pulled away the busted iron fence that was blocking the way up to the mansion.  
Now that she thought of it, it never crossed Liz’s mind, but why exactly was there a fence blocking most of the road anyway?  
And why did the pirates and privateers always put it back in its place? 

She remembered that back when Vaas drove her home, he also made sure to close it behind them again, even though he was only there for a very short moment. 

Was this a little defense mechanism?  
Or like a control if someone was already up?  
Making sure any vehicles couldn’t just speed off in a fast and the furious get away?  
Who knew?  
But whatever the fence was for, someone just drove through it and seemed to close it after themselves. 

A car came into sight. 

A red scavenger with a white eye painted on the hood was driving up around the bend.  
Pirates.  
There were 3 people sitting in it.  
One driver, one manning the mounted machine gun and, surprise, surprise: Vaas was sitting on the passenger seat.

So her gut was right...  
Of course he showed up!  
Not only that, but he also brought company, just as predicted. 

There was that weird smirk on his face again.  
The same he was wearing, when he aimed his gun at her.  
Was he planning on joking around with the machine gun? 

Well, jokes on him.  
Liz wasn’t going to be there.

Last time, when she hid in the sparse lush around the mansion, Vaas realized she was there, nearly spotted her and then followed her to chase her down.  
This time Liz was better prepared.

Down here, there was no reason for Vaas to be on the lookout for her already.  
He was probably expecting that she was waiting out the deal inside the mansion, greenhouse or the lush in the immediate area. 

Luckily, they didn’t notice Liz and drove past her, up the hill towards the lonely building. 

She would wait here, until they came back down and this time, she would make sure that Vaas had been in the car, before she got back out of cover.  
What was a bit unfortunate, was the fact that Liz couldn’t see or hear anything, that was now going on up there. 

It took not even five minutes, until curiosity took over and Liz had crawled a little bit upwards and hid behind the big stone. 

The scavenger was standing in front of the greenhouse.  
The pirate on the machine gun was sitting on the roof in a relaxed manner.  
The other Pirate and Vaas were out of sight. 

There was a rustle.

The second she heard the sound of a gentle step on the grass behind her, her hand shot towards her knife and Liz turned around. 

Too late, as it turned out. 

It didn’t take a single second until a hand grabbed her wrist in an iron grip, pulling it past her front and over to her right side, nearly tripping her with the force of the tug.  
All while another hand was pressing the blade of a hunting knife to her throat.

“Shh, shh, shh. Now that wouldn’t be a very smart thing to do, now. Eh, Sheila?”

In front of Liz stood a man with brown hair, blue eyes and a, somewhat, well kept beard.  
He wore blue jeans, ripped on the knees, a big, silver belt buckle going with it and an open, light blue hawaii shirt covered in dark and even lighter blue palm trees.

The thing that nearly made Lisa wet herself, was the big tattoo of a deer with pink roses with a golden banner that had one word written on it.

**Buck**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyoo! happy (late) Halloween!  
> I hope you all liked the new chapter. :)  
> I would love to hear opinions!  
> At which point did you realize that Liz was having a nightmare?
> 
> Funfact:  
> The song in her dream is: You'll be back from the hamilton musical.  
> The first time i heard that song, it was in an animatic and i had no idea what the musical was about.  
> I always misunderstood it as a crazy asshole king, singing to his runaway bride.  
> Therefore i used it here, because it is so fitting and i always wanted to include a song into a chapter once.  
> Also the lyrics and tone just work so good with what is going on in this fic.  
> IDK my brain is weird. :D  
> Also i know i am trying to keep things i use in the right time they got released, but this was something i included in the beginning of the story, when i wasn't paying attention to such things yet. 
> 
> ANYWAY! Things are kicking into another gear for Liz.  
> I hope you all have a great time, stay healthy and be just generally ok.  
> See you around!


	26. Your new best Mate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to apologize in advance.  
> I tried my best to write the accent.  
> (I watched all the ingame footage of Buck a couple of times and read a few guide on how to write australian)  
> If it is still super cringy, i am very very sorry!
> 
> Anyway, Enjoy. :)

What was it lately with Liz and not noticing people sneaking up on her?  
First Vaas and now-

“Now, now. How ‘bout we drop that little knife of yours? Would be a real shame if we made a mess on this beautiful day, wouldn’t it?.”  
Buck sounded a lot more, like he was scolding a child, than anything else, but Liz knew not to mess with him. 

He was a resident of Bad town and a regular in the bar Florian worked in.  
A sadistic, intelligent and deadly hitman.  
He knew what he was doing and Liz could tell his skill, the second she couldn’t stop herself from swallowing.  
The knife's pressure never left, but it changed with the movement of her throat, like a gentle wave, never breaking her skin.

With a dull sound, her hunting knife hit the ground. 

“See?” The face in front of her lit up. “That wasn’t so bloody hard, now was it?”

The pressure subsided and Liz's wrist was freed.  
Buck took a smiling step away, playfully passing his knife from one hand to the other, until he picked up hers.  
Great.  
Now he had two knives. 

As soon as the hitman took a step to the side, Liz mirrored the movement.  
The eyes never left hers.  
Blue on blue.  
Every step Buck took, Lisa would make one in the opposite direction, causing a, on his side, playful little dance until Buck was the one, with the rock behind him. 

With an amused chuckle, he sheathed his knife in its holster on his beltloops and sat down on the rock, shaking his head slightly.

“Lisa, Lisa, Lisa. No need to get your knickers in a twist.”  
Buck flipped her knife in his hands a few times, before holding it by the blade, pointing the handle towards her in an offering gesture.  
A big welcoming smile looked up to her.  
“We’re not all savages here.” 

She didn’t trust this one bit.  
Not only had he managed to somehow climb up the small waterfall without her noticing it, but he knew her name.  
A hitman knowing her name and finding her was definitely not a good sign.

There was also the point that, as far as she knew, Buck had never bought anything from Alec himself.  
If he did buy drugs, then it must be from the smaler dealers, which bought from Alec to then sell it themselfs.  
So he wasn’t here for drugs either.  
He was here for _her_.

Still, Liz needed her knife back. 

So, with her eyes glued to Buck's expression, Liz took a few careful steps forward and reached for the handle.  
As soon as he made the slightest move, she jerked back, causing the hitman to laugh out loud. 

"Someone's a bit jumpy, alright." 

It may have been just one jerking movement, but given who she was dealing with, Liz wanted to make sure.  
Her fight or flight instinct saved her ass a few times already.

The face straightened a bit.  
"Ok, ok game's over."  
Again the knife was held out to her. 

Her hesitation was met with a first disappointed and then annoyed look.  
"Now go on! Take the bloody knife already! We've got more important things to deal with."  
_We?_

This time, Buck let her take the knife back and watched closely, as she put it back in its sheath on her leg.  
Once she was done, he padded the rock next to him.  
"Take a seat. Let's talk." 

Instead of following suit, Liz crossed her arms and stood her ground.  
“What do you want from me?”  
She’d rather be in a position to at least try and run from him, instead of sitting right next to him. 

With a grin, Buck looked her up and down.  
“Oh please. You couldn’t run, even if you wanted.”  
Did he just read her mind?  
“Aside from the fact that there is no need for it.”  
There was a soft clapping sound, when his palms met each other in a relaxed manner.  
“After all, we're both responsible capitalists, aren't we?”

Leaning back a bit more, Liz really didn’t like the way he looked at her.  
It was like he was watching prey.  
As if he was on the hunt and waiting for his moment to tear her apart. 

“Come on now.”  
He, again, gestured for her to sit down with that smile, treating her like a child.  
“We’re working for the same side. You know why I'm here.” 

No.  
No way. 

“Hoyt.. sent **you** to pick up the delivery?”  
He sent a hitman?  
WHY?

"Heey~"  
The affirmative sound was accompanied by a single clap, followed by him pointing at her with finger guns.  
“Bloody ridiculous isn’t it?”  
He shrugged.  
“I am getting paid a real pretty penny for this, though. I don’t complain. It’s easy money.”

After gesturing once more and the movement getting a bit more aggressive, Liz gave in and, carefully, came closer. 

“Is there still a bit of time? Because i don't think we should go over there right _now_."  
She let her eyes watch past him, over to the mansion. 

As far as she could tell, no one was looking in their direction.  
The scavenger was still in its place, but no one was sitting on top anymore.  
Good. 

But with Buck and her sitting on the rock, they were easily spottable.  
The Man looked back over his shoulder, following her gaze. 

"I’d rather not get spotted by them. I know it shouldn’t be a problem, but-”  
"Vaas is getting his fill, I see. Just ignore ‘m. We’ve got more important things to worry about than this savage turned lapdog.”  
He practically spat those words out, while turning around to face the path towards the mansion. 

Someone wasn’t a fan of Vaas it seemed.  
Interesting.  
Somehow Liz would have guessed otherwise. 

Now that they were both facing the Mansion, Liz gathered her courage to sit down next to Buck, like he ordered.  
That man had way more experience in this than her.  
If he said they were more important right now, maybe it meant Vaas would do them the favor of staying away? 

Probably not, but what else was she supposed to do?  
Buck was her contact to Hoyt it seemed, so she had to deal with it. 

“Alright then! While we wait for those wankers to finish their bullshit over there. Let’s get down to brass tacks.”  
Buck was facing her again and Liz regretted sitting down immediately.  
He was so god damn close to her.  
This was way too many levels of uncomfortable.

“See, I deal with a lot of things for our good friend in the south, but you look like a responsible businesswoman too.”  
Leaning away a bit, getting as much distance without being too obvious, Liz just nodded.  
“Uhm.. sure?”

“Then let’s use this little delay and talk about some private business first. I’ve got something you want. That’s Product. And you got something I want.”  
Wait.. what?  
Private business?  
“What do you mean, you have something i wa-”

Before she could finish that sentence, Buck pulled something from his back pocket and held it under her nose.  
It was a stack of photos.  
Her blood froze.

In front of Liz was a photo of her and Jason at their little camp, before the raid of Vaas compound. 

“I have to say: There were some very interesting motives, during my last shoot with Jas.”  
Buck begann flipping through the pictures.

Her and Jason eating together, while spying on the compound. 

Her showing Jason something on her map.

Her showing Jason the tunnel he was going to use. 

Jason keeping nightwatch, while she was sleeping.

Her and Jason walking away from the mini camp, leaving behind most of Liz gear and all the firearms of Jason.

Her and Jason on their way towards the compound. 

Her entering her tunnel. 

Her coming out of the other tunnel, covered in blood and without her backpack. 

Her running away from the compound, still covered in blood. 

Her picking up her gear, obviously panicked.

Her entering the ocean to swim away from the compound's small island towards the mainland.

Every photograph was taken with either color or night vision.  
Sometimes the angle was a bit off, but you could clearly make out that it was her. 

When.. **How?!**  
Buck had been watching them the entire time?  
How did neither of them notice him?

He knew for the past month or so about Liz's involvement in Jason's attack on the main pirate compound.  
He knew she was there when everything happened.  
He knew she helped Jason nearly kill Vaas and he took photos of it all.  
He had **proof**.

Sure Liz never had any of Jason's intentions.  
She blindly trusted that he wouldn’t do something like that.  
Liz never wanted things to go the way they did.

These photos made it look **very** different.

All the color must have drained from Liz's face, while Buck was showing her the photos, because that asshole was grinning like he just won the jackpot.  
Which he, unfortunately, had.

He, not only, had something she wanted, he had something she **needed**.  
If the wrong person saw these, Liz was toast. 

Now the dreading question was in the room.  
“What... What do i have that you want?”  
How much more did he know about her?

For just a second, Buck was giving her a once-over, sending chills of disgust and horror down Liz's spine. 

Why was he looking at her like that?  
Didn’t Florian mention something about him being into men?  
Was he Bi?  
Please don’t let him be Bi.  
Could somebody please tell her, he wasn’t going to do this.  
This wasn’t happening. 

What was she going to do, if he wanted _sexual favors_ for those pictures?  
She couldn’t…  
But what if she didn’t?  
If this came out.. 

The chuckle broke her out from the building panic and Liz looked back up to the hitman, who was putting the photos back in his pocket.  
“Stop pissing yourself, sheila. You’re tiny, little ass isn’t up my alley.”  
That statement was a slight relief.  
So he was either Gay or just not interested.  
But there was no time to take a breath, as Buck continued. 

“Now. I was thinking. These little actions-shots won’t reach Hoyts desk and in return.. you help out your new best mate every now and then. Sounds good?”

That sounded a lot more like he was just going to turn her into his errand boy, which could be somewhat ok.  
“Helping you out? Like what?” 

“Your little boyfriend is causing me some trouble.”  
“My.. what now?” 

Did he mean..?  
There was no way.  
There was just no way that he was talking about Vaas right?  
Right?  
Nobody knew that they were dating.  
And they were definitely not a couple.

But Buck knew about her heist with Jason.  
Who knew what else he was aware of.  
How many times had he been lurking around, without Liz knowing?  
Did he know where she lived?  
Was he there during their Date?

“Jas, that bloody wanker.”

“Oh! Oh no. He’s not- We’re not- He stabbed me in the back. I am **not** counting him as a friend anymore and especially no-”  
The cold stare said enough for Liz to shut up, mid sentence and look down to the folded piece of paper that had found its place between Bucks fingertips..

With careful fingers, she took and unfolded it.  
It looked and felt old. Ancient even.  
On it was the drawing of a knife.  
If you could even call it that.

On top of it, from near the tip up to the hilt, a sculpted dragon was fusing into the blade.  
The grip was scaled and ended in two heads facing opposite directions.  
They looked like either bears or jaguar, maybe even tiger heads. It was hard to tell. 

This painting alone had so many details in it, it was absurd.  
To say it was artistic was an understatement. 

“Wow.. Well that's a case of more art than knife.”  
Lucky her, that little statement seemed to be just what the Hitman wanted to hear.  
“Exactly! Finally someone appreciating some fucking art around here!”

The longer Liz looked at the knife, the more she felt like knew it.  
“I’ve seen this before.”  
Looking back up, Buck nodded at her, like he was reassuring a kid that was answering a vocabulary test, before pulling out one of the photos again. 

It was the one showing her and Jason eating together.  
From the angle, you could clearly see the silver knife in Jason's hand.  
_Ahh Ok._  
Now she remembered.

“So it’s Jason's knife.”  
Her little nods were answered by a barking voice.  
“Oh come on Lisa! You were doing so well! Use your brain for once in your goddamn life!”  
The disappointment was written all over his face.  
Sheesh. 

“Sooo..”  
To make it right again, Liz crooked her head a little bit to the side, while she dragged the word out.  
“It’s actually your knife?”  
“It **is** my bloody knife! And that fucking arsehole, Jas, nicked it!”  
Buck ripped the paper out of her hand again, holding it under her nose.  
“And I want it back.”

Oh boy.. So much for just running some easy errands.  
“I.. i can’t steal from Ja-”  
Buck cut her off again.

“Of course you bloody can!”  
Liz got a little smack on the forehead with the paper.  
It didn’t hurt, it just startled her a bit.

“If you can break into that other cunt’s fortress, you can steal something as simple as a fucking knife from Jason too. Or are we playing favorites here?”  
She wasn’t going to lie, he had a pretty good point...

Buck waved around the knife’s picture again.  
“Score this and we're even steven. I get my knife, you get the photos. Until then-”  
The paper got folded back together.  
“it’s one favor, one photo and i am keeping the _juicy_ ones till the end.”

Liz nodded for a bit, thinking to herself.  
This was bad, but it could be worse. 

She knew Jason had this knife back when they met for the heist.  
Maybe if she told him that she was getting blackmailed, he would help her?  
After all it was just a knife.  
Sure it was damn pretty, but what else could it be for Jason than _just a knife_?  
Not to mention, all of this was his goddamn fault in the first place!

Thinking of it..  
“Why didn’t you take out Jason, when you spied on us? Neither of us noticed you taking these pictures so why didn’t you go for it? It’s not like i could have done anything.”  
If he had been there the entire time, that meant he _let_ Jason break into the compound.  
He **let** him nearly kill Vaas.

Also Jason had already been a problem for them back then.  
So why not get rid of the pest, when he had the chance?

Buck just grinned and pointed his finger at her, speaking in a proud voice.  
“Now that is a smart girl! I could’ve just gone and got rid of the two of you, but i know talent when i see it.”  
He bopped her on the nose, in a very weird and gentle way.  
“That and a few other reasons.”  
What a creep.

So he planned to blackmail her from the start?  
Liz had to swallow.  
How could he have known that she was going to start working for Hoyt?  
Or was it that logical of a move, after what happened in the compound?  
But he didn’t know what was gonna happen in there, when he took the photos..

With a deep breath Liz held her hand out.  
“ **Nobody** will get to see these photos. For Every favor, I get the **only** copy of the photos and I will get rid of them myself. And if I manage to bring you that kni- art piece, I get all the photos and nothing you saw me do with Jason **ever happened.**. Ok?”  
She had to set some form of official terms.  
At least something.

“Sounds fine by me.”  
Buck took her hand in a very firm grip, nearly making her wince.

“Now, do we have a deal, _**Mate**_?”

Another deep breath.  
This was fine.  
She could handle this.  
How hard could it be?

She was either getting that knife from Jason or was going to run a few errands for a sadistic hitman.  
God.. life just had to keep making itself harder and harder for her, didn’t it?  
With one last confident nod, Liz squeezed the hand back.

“Deal.”

Buck's grin got wider and he let go of her hand.  
“Great!” He gave her a few confident pats on the shoulder.  
“First Favor: I need a little help with our _friend_ Jas.”  
“He’s not my-”  
“Shhhh.”  
Buck had lowered his voice and put a finger on her lips, while giving their surroundings a quick, but good look over.

“He kidnapped my Mate.”  
The dead seriousness, not only surprised, but also scared her.  
“Wh-” 

“Those savages out there think, they can torture information out of my boy Keith. Think he knows anything confidential about Hoyt. Which he doesn’t, but that’s not the point. The point is that Jas knows this little fucker is close to my heart. Known him for bloody Ages. So of course Mr. Buck must have told him something that he could use.”

The sudden change in character was not only concerning, but also disturbing.  
Jason kidnapped someone?  
Like.. a local?  
The way Buck talked it sounded like that Keith was a local.  
Why would Jason do that?  
Well, he already turned from scared tourist into an ice cold killer..  
It wasn’t too far off..

“And now, they’re trying the good old-”  
Both hands were placed on her shoulders, as Buck put his face really close to her, turning his whisper way too sweetly:  
“ _But I’m your friend, you need to tell me!_ ”  
,before letting go and leaning back chuckling. 

“Anyway, I know Jas is bound to show up at Doc's place sooner or later.”

“And you want me to follow him and bring back your friend?”  
How was she supposed to do that?  
Getting the knife back would be way easier!

But Buck just smiled back at her.  
“Naw, Mate. His _**location**_. See, if I go out and look for the place Jas keeps ‘im in myself, he’s gonna slit Keith dick to chin. Alright? So much for _‘i am your friend’_ , right? That’s all just fucking bullshit to get into Keith’s head.”  
After a very short pause, Bucks' entire posture changed.

“But Mr. Buck! What if I get spotted? Won’t they kill him then too?”  
He was giving her his best Liz-Impression, before returning to his normal voice.  
“Very good question, my dear little Lissy. Very astute. Very good.” 

What was his deal, with talking like a teacher?

“See, if your small ass is running around, it’s just normal supplying work. No ones gonna get fucking suspisious over little miss innocent here.”  
That made pretty much... a lot of sense actually. In an odd way.  
Still it wouldn’t be easy. 

“Figure out where he is and you get the first photo.” 

With no more words, Buck got up, patting her shoulder once more, signaling her to follow.  
“Now that that is settled, let’s get to the real business.”  
He started to walk over towards the dirt path in the mansion's direction.  
So she followed.

A quick look told Liz that the Pirates hadn’t left yet. 

Even worse, once they got past the small bridge, Liz could practically feel the eyes burning into her.  
Her heartbeat picked up the speed, as adrenalin made its way through her. 

This was the first time, since her breakout, that Liz had the full attention of so many people with guns.  
So many people with a steadily rising body count and her, out in the open, noticed and marked as the center of attention.  
It was only 4 people, with two of them being Vaas and Buck, but still.  
She did not miss this feeling.  
Not at all.

One Pirate was loading a few bags into the car, while the other one had climbed back on the roof, having one arm lounged over the mounted gun.  
Alec was with his back to her and Buck, seemingly talking to Vaas. 

Who was looking straight past the old doctor.

Liz wasn’t looking back at him, her eyes were glued to the greenhouse, but boy she didn’t need to look at the green lush, to know it. 

He was staring at her.  
They were all staring at her.  
The difference was that Vaas was specifically staring at her face.  
Like he was trying to get her to look back, without showing it.

It felt like a thousand needles on her skin.  
Like that cold shiver you got, when it felt like someone was behind you.  
When something bad was about to happen.  
She could feel her stomach starting to churn.  
This time, she had to fight back, to not succumb to fight or flight and just run away. 

Liz had to remember.  
All she had to do was get past them.  
Just walk past them, get into the building and send Buck on his way with the product.  
This was stepp one, on her way to work with these guys.  
Everything else, she could deal with once she dealt with the delivery.

Just remember: Hoyt is the highest priority.  
Make that man happy, then worry about all the others. 

She could do this.  
She could do this and she would do this.  
This was basically just like back home.  
Back when she was working in the Watchmaker’s workshop.  
She had to deal with some sucky customers there before. 

Sure, they weren’t armed, but still the same rules applied.  
Make them feel welcome, don’t let them see your fear or they’ll try and use it.  
She was never really good at dealing with customers, but she always tried her best. 

Quoting one of her most quoted movie lines.  
_“Lächeln und winken Männer. Lächeln und winken.” (Smile and wave, boys. Smile and wave.)_  
Also she was usually back in the workshop and not at the counter, so it hadn’t been a big deal.

While still walking next to her, Buck was a good half of a step behind her, keeping his posture a lot more serious.  
He was still chill and unimpressed by the pirates, but there was this even stronger ominous aura around him. 

Once they got in the 15 Meter proximity of the car, which was right next to the greenhouse, it was time for game mode.  
Liz put on her best Customer-Service smile and gave a little nod in the direction of the Pirates and Alec, not looking at anyone directly, but aiming her gaze between them all, to the white walls of the mansion.

Just treat them as normal people, Liz.  
Just forget for a moment, what they could do.  
Normal people, normal business, normal conversations.  
Just as if Alec would stand there alone.  
Ignore them all for a second. 

“Good afternoon.”

Fucking nailed it!  
After the welcoming, honest and lovely words left her, Liz was pointing her sight back over her shoulder to Buck.  
“Now, if you would please follow me, everything is already prepared and ready to go.”  
She tried her best to sound professional.

Just a few more steps and she was inside.  
Just maybe 6 mo-

“It is a fucking lovely afternoon. Isn’t it?”  
Oh god fucking damn it..

Liz could barely hear the pirates mumble something in agreement to their cheery leader’s question.  
Her ears were focused on the sound of impending doom, a.k.a. the heavy footsteps on the grass, making their way over to her and Buck. 

“And it’s really fucking nice to see a new face, too.”  
In the corner of her eye, Liz could see him holding his hands out open, happy, like everything was just dandy.  
Like a big welcome.

Great. Now what?  
She couldn’t ignore him now and she couldn’t look away anymore, because that would clearly be the wrong reaction.  
The doorframe of the greenhouse was so close and yet so faar as Liz turned a good 90° away from it, to face a cheery and grinning with anticipation, Vaas.

“So this is our new _friend_? Hm? ”  
It was officially impossible to avoid eye contact, after he got in close and down to her eye level.  
“The _apprentice_ we heard so much about? The new _Doc_?”  
This man never heard of the words ‘personal bubble’ or ‘personal space’.

The playfulness and joy were everywhere.  
His face, his voice and eyes.  
It brought her right back.

Right back when she was kneeling at the beach with all the others in line.  
Back when Vaas was happily walking past them, explaining what was gonna happen to them.  
How they were all going to be ransomed for large amounts of money and how he hoped their parents loved them.  
She had seen that exact face just before the bags were put over their heads and they were brought into the compound.  
He had carried the same excitement in his body.

“U-uhm. Yes.”  
She couldn’t stop a shiver from going down her spine.  
Vaas just grinned at her in this innocent psychotic way, reaching his hand out for her cheek.

Out of pure instinct, Liz tried to back off, but immediately, bumped into something.  
Or more someone.

Buck.  
Right.  
Fuck.  
He was still here too. 

Now she was practically sandwiched between them.  
Vaas was at a mere arms length of her.  
His hand was still in the air, but didn’t move any closer.  
He looked at her, disappointed.  
As for Buck..  
He was right behind her, her backpack touching his chest. 

“Course she bloody is! But-”  
Both hands of the hitman found their places on her shoulders, keeping her in place.  
It was a very weird and uncomfortable way.  
The weirdest part had to be the reassuring feeling he gave her.  
Like she could stand her ground better, cause he got her back.

Vaas had straightened up again.  
An annoyed expression was aimed just past her head, meeting the Hitman, who just casually kept talking. 

“it’s not like this is first come, first serve. We-”  
Buck was giving her one punctuating shake and started massaging her shoulders a bit, which weirded her out even more.  
”have business to get to. So how ‘bout you save your little _initiation games_ for later?”

Aside from the rapid change of expression on Vaas face, Liz caught attention of the metallic sound, indicating the pirate on the maschine gun had mounted it and was aiming at them.  
Oh god, what was happening?

He wouldn’t shoot right?  
Vaas was right there. There was no way his men would try to shoot past him. Right?  
This gun wasn’t accurate enough for this kind of shit. Right?  
Liz could feel her body start to shake a bit.  
She couldn’t breath. 

After moving his eyes back and forth over Buck and Liz for a few times, the massive annoyance and building anger on Vaas face faded.  
Making way for a rather mischievous smile.

“Well i don-”  
He was immediately cut off by the music coming from his pocket. It was a different ringtone, but the same phone she had already seen was pulled out.  
There was a dark chuckle vibrating through the hands on her shoulders.  
“I would answer that, if i were you, _Mate_. It’s important.”

Liz wasn’t sure what scared her more.  
The smug, knowing voice of Buck or the glared side-eye from Vaas.  
The Pirate Lord looked at the smartphone’s screen, before he turned around and answered the call with a simple ‘Hello’.  
There was not time to listen in, as Buck turned her towards the greenhouse, signaling to finally get on with shit. 

The second the thick curtain closed behind her and Buck, Liz could finally take a breath of the thick humid air.

There was a single clap of hands, as Buck was walking past her, towards the sink and table.  
“Now that that is settled. Let's get my package ready.”

Shaking her head for a moment, Liz begann to walk over to the 3 taped up bags on the table.  
She had to keep her composure, after all, the greenhouse windows were just stained.  
They were still see through.  
Liz was still on display for these men outside.

“Right here.”  
All 3 bags were laid out on the table.  
“I wrote down all the weights, so if someone wants to counter-weigh, everything should be accurate.”

Outside, the scavenger's engine sprung to life, startling her for a second.  
Buck just gave her an amused smile.  
“We’ll ‘bout time they fucked off.”

She wouldn’t be so sure about that.  
Last time ‘they left’ Vaas had hung around to stalk her.  
Somehow she expected him to walk through the curtain or the door any second now.  
Aaany second now.

“Looks like that arsehole’s gonna be a mighty pain in your ass.”  
“Hu?”  
The bags were getting stacked on Bucks arm.  
“Well, you're certanly an easy target." 

“Oh. Well yeah.. You're right.. But still. Thank you.. for backing me up out there.”  
It was such a weird feeling to thank this man.

Buck just smiled back at her.  
“Any time.” He walked over and handed the bags to her.  
“Can’t have Vaas ripp you into peaces, **before** i get me knife back, can i?”  
Of course.. Buck still needed her.  
That’s why he helped.

Buck made his way over to the door, holding it open and looking expectedly.  
“Wait. The bags.”  
Why did he just give them to her? 

“Oh.” The hitman turned to her with a grin.  
“no no no, mate. I don’t actually give a shit about your little drug delivery here. **This** is my package.”  
He gestured to her entire form.  
“Now come on."  
He gave her another side nod with his head.

"You ain’t gonna deliver Yourself.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man i really hope you all liked this chapter. :3  
> I was planning Bucks role for so long now and he's finally here!  
> I really hope the accent isn't too shitty and that he is at least close to the charater of the game.. 
> 
> Anyway i hope you liked the chapter! :3  
> Toodles.


	27. The Compound

One flash of green was followed by the next.  
The jungle, racing past the car, was looming over the technical.  
It felt cold, dark, menacing.  
Unknown. 

Liz was clutching the taped bags on her lap.  
The walk down to Bucks car, the drive and the boat trip were all no problem.  
Sure, she had a bad feeling in her gut and wanted to chicken out, but it was still manageable.

This however, the second car ride, this was where all her nerves were stretched to their max.  
In the north, nearly every tree, ever bush was in her memory.  
It was like a map of its own.  
Put her somewhere and she’d need maybe 3 minutes to figure out where on the island she was. 

Here?  
Not a chance. 

Liz had never, not even once, set foot on the southern island. 

Why would she?  
Getting there would require stealing a boat.  
It was also inhabited by the Privateers, who were armed to the teeth and would kill her on sight.

Liz didn’t like the feeling of this jungle around her.  
Everything about this island felt different from the north.  
It was like stepping into the wilds for the first time again.  
If she was to try and run from someone here, she’d be helplessly lost.  
She’d get swallowed by the jungle within the hour. 

Buck was awfully silent.  
He was just sitting there all relaxed in his seat, not a single worry in the world, driving with this damn smirk on his face.  
It made her nauseous.  
He definitely stayed quiet on purpose, just to freak her out.  
The silence gave her time to think and that was something she didn’t want to do right now. 

Wasn’t it amazing how you could look back, laughing at your own thoughts?  
Liz had thought she was nervous, when the pick up came closer and closer.  
That hadn’t been shit to now. 

Alec didn’t say anything against Bucks announcement, that he was taking her with him, but he had a horrified expression on his face.  
He couldn’t have done anything to stop Buck, but those eyes alone.  
They were begging her to stay.  
For just a second, it had felt like a goodbye.

Hoyt had sent Buck, not to pick up the delivery, but to bring Liz in.  
Meaning she was about to meet this man.  
Meaning there was a **reason** for her to meet this man.  
Meaning there was going to be a **conversation** with this man.  
There was a reason for her to have a conversation with the deadliest creature on the entirety of Rook.  
A man described as being armageddon compared to Vaas. 

_"You need to be very careful, my dear. Hoyt Volker, is the deadliest creature on both these islands combined and he was not happy that you weren't here."_

Those were the words of Alec, one week ago.  
From the Doctors reaction, back then, she guessed it wasn’t usual for this man to show up at the mansion at all. 

This meant that Volker actually wanted to meet her back then already.  
And she hadn’t been there.  
Which he obviously wasn’t happy about.  
So now he sent a hitman to make sure she was where he wanted her to be. 

God.. just how fucked was she?  
Would he even look at her work?  
Was she going to die today?  
Worse? 

Was this man mad at her?  
And if yes, how bad was it?  
How bad did she fuck up?  
What did she even do?  
The delivery was fine, he didn't even see it yet. 

Maybe it was just a friendly hello hi?  
Like using the first delivery to see who he was working with.  
So he at least had a face?  
Maybe she was just going to drop off the drugs, exchange a few words and then she and Buck would be off again?  
The odds weren't good, but she could still hope. 

Turning a corner, the ground under the car changed, causing Liz to look up from her lap.  
They were on a bridge.  
To her side, down at the other end of the bridge, was a small harbor, with a few RHIBs and Patrol Boats with soldiers.  
Looking forward again, was a big, red, metal gate, connecting high concrete walls.

This was it. 

**Hoyts Compound.**

There was only one building seemingly tall enough to look out over the barbed wire walls.  
It was quite away though.  
Nearly all the trees in the entire surrounding area had been chopped down, creating an environment impossible to sneak up on. 

_Or to run away from._

A shiver went down her spine.  
This thing was **massive** just from the outside look.  
And it was obviously heavily guarded. 

The car came to a halt in front of the gate.  
4 men stood in front of the gate, all in heavy armor, decorated in yellow and armed with various automatic rifles.  
You could immediately see the difference in quality towards what the pirates usually carried around.  
Even to her, who had no clue about guns, it was obvious.

Seeing them unfortunately also meant that 4 men with guns were walking towards them now.  
And there were even more inside.  
Honestly the bags filled with drugs were turning more and more into her emotional support pillows, because she hugged those bad boys, like her life depended on it. 

Just keep it in mind.  
Say it again.  
_In and Out_

Buck seemed pretty chill, letting the motor run and keeping his hands on the steering wheel.  
One of the men stepped forward, while the other 3 were forming a semicircle around the cars front, at a good 3 Meter distance.  
They had their hands on their guns, but weren’t aiming at them.  
Yet.

“What’s your business?”  
She wasn’t sure if it was because of the harsh tone, but Buck looked really hurt.  
“Wha- No hello?”  
Really? Even with this guy?

Giving the annoyed eye roll, this kind of answer seemed to be normal for Buck.  
But at least he seemed to take the man seriously after his little joke.  
“Just dropping off my little package for Hoyt here.”  
He gave a nod over to her.  
“New Doc, New Product. Don’t mind the gear. Girl couldn’t hurt a fly.” 

Looking past Buck, the man gave her a once over, staying awfully long at her chest, where one of the bags was pressed.  
Subconsciously, Liz shrinked in her seat.  
Only once, the man looked in her eyes, did she press out a small  
“Hello” 

“Name.”  
The tone was harsh, the intent unpleasant.  
He wasn’t asking for her Name, he was ordering her Name.  
Just for a second, Liz let her eyes sway to Buck.  
That asshole was watching her struggle with a big smile.  
Once her eyes were back on the man, she could see he was about to say something again, obviously annoyed by her silence. 

“I’m Lisa. Lisa Kaffkind.”  
God she must sound like a puppy going to the vet for the first time.  
The man just pulled an eyebrow up, leaned into the radio at the front of his shoulder and pressed the speak button.  
“Open the Gate. Comin’ in are Bambi Hughes and a Lisa.. Kaffkind?”

Bambi Hughes?  
Was this Buck's real name?  
A little bit too fitting, now wasn't it?  
But she could certainly see where the Nickname Buck came from now.  
What was there first? The Nickname or the tattoo?  
Before she could think more, the car started driving again. 

The men, who had previously circled the front of the car, all stepped aside, letting them pass, while the big, metal gates were opening.  
As soon as they were inside, the gates were closed behind them again and Liz felt immediately trapped.  
So she took a first good look around the compounds inside.

Ho-ly Shit.

Liz had broken into Vaas' compound countless of times and spied on it for even longer.  
It was a big space and well guarded space, but against this it just seemed cute.  
Not only size wise, but damn.  
There was so much more going on here. 

Just so much.. order.  
There were structured streets, no random couches, no little crannies and nooks someone could hide in, no stipper poles and most notebly: Not a single graffiti.  
Everything seemed to have its place and was in its place.  
And if it wasn’t, it wasn’t for long.

It was all in all a lot bigger, but still, so much more thought was put in everything.  
Well, she was comparing chaotic pirates to a private military here, so she should cut the pirates some slack.

The big building she saw poking out from the walls, was actually the best looking one.  
It had a windowed front facing them and the harbor outside on the upstairs go-around balcony.  
All in all very well kept.  
It just screamed Boss Building.

Surprisingly, they weren’t driving towards the stairs right in front of them, leading to said building.  
Instead, Buck took a right and followed the small street.

They came past another big building on their right.  
A rather wide one, made of metal, like most the others, with maybe 2 stories.  
A bunch of men were sitting outside on chairs, playing cards with one another.  
Sleeping quarters, maybe?

Further down the street, another big gate came into view.  
So the compound had at least 2 entrances.  
They didn’t get close though, as Buck took a left after passing the wide building onto a street right to the main one.

Oh, did she already mention there were near **countless** soldiers walking around?  
All armed to the teeth, with different amounts of body protection.  
They were patrolling, keeping watch on the roofs with snipers, driving around, moving stuff from A to B.  
No matter where she looked, at least one of each group was watching them with a close eye. 

Also a few were carrying flamethrowers.  
Because why not?  
Why not wear this kind of weapon on an island with a **lot** of plantlife?  
Who would willingly mess with someone with a fucking flamethrower?  
Liz would definitely take being attacked by someone with a gun, over someone with a flamethrower. 

Could you imagine the pure agony it must be, to be set on fire?  
Not just fire licking at your body and burning your skin, but full on being on fire.  
Being covered in that liquid and just burning to death.  
Who the fuck came up with such a horrible and cruel weapon?  
Oh.. right.

They were getting closer to the back of the biggest building and a big part of Liz hoped that Buck would just keep driving and leave this place again.  
But in the end, she wasn’t surprised, when he parked the technical next to a few other cars.  
Most of them were in some way shape or form marked with yellow and, in general, in a way better shape than most in the north.

“There we go. Don’t leave any of your shit in the car. Some of these wankers have sticky hands.”  
As if it was just a usual day to day stroll, Buck jumped out of the car, walking around to her side.  
Setting her first foot down on the compound grounds, Liz wasn’t sure if her legs were going to support her weight.  
She was shaking like a leaf.  
To her surprise, she didn’t collapse after the first step and even managed to walk next to Buck towards the building. 

It was yet another surprise, when the Hitman walked past the door and let her around the building.  
“We’re not taking the backdoor.”  
That was all the explanation she got. 

They passed a landing area with two helicopters, one of which was currently being cleaned by two men in grey, dirty clothes, while 5 soldiers were aiming at them.  
Not just standing there with the guns ready.  
Aiming.

“Stop staring.”  
At first Buck sounded a bit scolding again, but it was quickly followed by a long whistle.  
“I take it back~. Look at the cheeks on that blondy.”  
He actually stopped, tilted his head for a second with a pursed lip, seeminly thinking, before he continued walking mumbling to himself.  
“Naw. I’m more a brunette type of guy.” 

All of this was wrong.  
So God damn wrong.  
Not only were those men slaves, forced to clean a muddy, gross helicopter with, what looked like, dirty rags, all while at gunpoint, but just the implication of Buck _buying_ a person..  
Or the things he was sure to do afterwards..  
It did all kinds of bad things to her stomach and why were they at the front door already? 

Liz wasn’t ready.  
This place was a nightmare.  
But this time she couldn’t run and hide from it.  
She couldn’t do her best to ignore it.  
She was in this now. 

_In and Out_

Once they opened the door and went inside, Liz found herself in a rather open hallway.  
Aside from the big stacks of, what she assumed to be, drugs and the, again, good 7 men, there was nearly no furniture.  
Just the hallway, a few chairs, a staircase and a few doors leading to different rooms.

Everyone was staring at them.  
Correction.  
Everyone was staring at **her**.

All conversations had stopped mid sentence giving all the attention to the obvious fish out of water.  
It was awkward to say the least.  
Uncomfortable was the next feeling bubbling up in her. 

Once again, Liz could feel every pair of eyes wander over her.  
Judging her, maybe even price her.  
She could feel that these men were looking at her, not as a person, but a thing.  
Just by the way they looked at her. 

Buck wasn’t doing anything. He was just standing there next to her left, watching her reaction from the corner of his eye.  
Again with this shitty grin.  
He knew just as well as her, that Liz wasn’t going to do anything, until he did something.  
So this sadistic asshole was going to let her be trapped in this uncomfortable atmosphere.

A single amused sound came from one of the men on her left.  
“Look what Buck brought in. Fresh meat.”  
Liz tried to keep her posture strong and her face neutral to kind.  
_Stay calm. Stay strong.  
Just ignore them._

“So. How much?”  
One of the soldiers had walked over to them.  
He stood on her right, opposite of Buck.  
He wore the same armor as the rest of them, as well as the yellow band around his right arm.  
The only real distinct features were the camo colored cap and the Hulk Hogan-style Mustache.  
The look he gave Liz made her want to puke. 

_Don’t acknowledge him.  
Don’t give him that satisfaction.  
Buck will handle this.  
He’s supposed to bring you to Hoyt, remember?_

“For what?”  
Buck had apparently decided that he instead wanted to play a bit.  
Great. 

Again she was getting that disgusting look from the soldier, who was now bowing down to her size, taking an even closer look at her.  
It took a lot not to step away or tell him to back off.  
_Don’t make a scene Liz.  
Just In and Out._

“Hm~ Just a ride for now. Might take that pussy of your hands, if i like it, though. I mean we all know you don’t have any use for it.”  
Chuckles filled the room again.  
The way he said it, made it sound like an insult. 

Yes, great idea. Insult the gay killer in the room, that’s definetly going to work out well for you.  
Go Buck. Do your thing.  
Rip him into pieces.  
Liz wouldn’t mind.  
She wasn't the kind of person to wish bad things upon others, but this guy?  
Yeah exceptions confirmed the rues.

But Buck just stood there in silence, giving the mustache man a creepy once over and a flirty eyebrow wave instead.  
That seemed to work too, given the annoyed and disgusted face from the Privateer and the amused sounds from the audience.  
From the looks on their faces, they were just in it for the show. 

Once the guy realized, he couldn’t hurt Buck with his homophobic bullshit, he turned his attention back to her.  
Crap.  
“I’m just saying, i would know a lot of ways to use that little mo-”  
The second he reached for Liz's face, she slapped his hand away.  
She didn’t want to make a scene out of this or act out of line, but she was **not** letting this disgusting piece of shit touch her and especially not her face!

The glare was bone chilling.  
“You little who-”  
“Und what exactly is going on down here?!”

The entire downstairs fell into silence as someone walked down the stairs.  
A bald, tall man with a blond goatee.  
He was covered in tattoos, most notebly the big letters on his neck, reading ‘Hellbound’ and the black widow under his eye.  
Gearwise, he was wearing the same guns and body protection and a knife on the front of his right shoulder, with an ace of spades taped to it.  
There wasn’t too much of a difference in uniform, but the reaction to him from the room around her, suggested someone of higher rank.

The man in question gave a rather aggressive look around the silent entrance area, before his eyes fell on Buck and his Plus one.  
“Ah, gut!”  
His tone didn’t sound very friendly, but he already seemed to be in a better mood.  
“Was about time ihr Zwei showed up! You are the Doctor? Ja?” 

Why was everyone silent?  
Who was this guy?  
“Uhm. Ja. I mean yes. I am.”  
“Gut! You!” He pointed at one of the sitting men.  
“Take the drugs upstairs to Hoyt.”

Something about the way this man spoke sounded.. familiar?  
Did he just say ‘gut’(good) and ‘ihr Zwei’ (you two)?  
Wait..  
Was he german?

The addressed soldier got up and made a step towards her, holding his hands out for the bags.  
With a short hesitation, she handed them over.  
So they were going to deliver them?  
Did they make her come all this way, just for this?  
Part of Liz felt made fun off, the other was happy.  
And yet.. she didn’t have anything of worth anymore.  
That couldn’t be good, right?

Bald guy continued, as the soldier was making his way past him.  
“Don’t drop anything. If anything goes wrong now, it’s on you.”  
Then the eyes were back on her _best mate_.  
“Hoyt wants to talk to you first.” 

Buck just nodded, following behind the soldier armed with her bags up the flight of stairs,  
effectively leaving Liz, the other men and the bald guy behind.  
She had to swallow.  
Somehow Liz really didn’t want to be alone with these monsters.  
Especially Mr. Mustache, who was giving her weird looks again and was still standing next to her.

Also Hoyt wanted to speak with Buck _first_.  
That meant she wasn’t off the hook just yet.  
The man then addressed her again.

“You’re coming with me.”  
The tone was still harsh, but a little less bad now.  
There were some unhappy sounds, coming from the disgusting man to her right.  
Bald guy immediately snapped at him.  
“You have a problem Carl?!”  
You could see man flinch, before he was stumbling over his words.  
“No. No, Sam. Not at all.”

Bald guy, or more, Sam just gave him another aggressive nod and a spat out “Gut!”, before he started walking down the hallway right of the staircase.  
Liz immediately followed, leaving the room of men behind her.  
Something told her, this guy was at least a little bit safer to be around.  
It was very silent, but she could still hear the snarky comment from Carl, sending another chill down her spine.  
“Fucking bitch.. I’ll get you later.”

While the main entrance area was more square shaped, this part was a rather Long hallway.  
Following closely behind Sam, Liz could see through a few open doors.  
They were all either filled or guarded with soldiers, containing pallets with countless bags of drugs on them, tables with card playing soldiers, as well as one room with a tripod, a camera and a clothing rack, with a bunch of very nice dresses, bikinis and clothes.  
It was unsettling, to say the least. 

Liz knew that the pirates were ransoming people.  
Recording videos and sending them to their families to get money from them.  
That room was for something entirely different.  
Nice clothing, a camera setup for photos, multiple background sheets…  
This was for photographing ‘Product’ or ‘Merchandise’, whatever Volker may call them.  
People.  
Poor, unfortunate people.

The mere thought gave her chills.  
Going through all this hell, just to be pampered and put in a nice dress, having pictures taken and landing in a catalog for slaves.  
God…  
What could be worse?

The next room she flashed a look into, while passing by, nearly made her stop dead in her tracks.  
**That** was what could be worse.  
There was a woman, definitely a native, bound to a chair.  
She was wearing a ripped top, nothing else.  
Covered in bruises, cuts and… different liquids. 

This time, Liz had to slap a hand on her mouth, to stop herself from throwing up. 

It was just for a split second, but they had made eye contact, sending an ice cold chill down Liz’s spine, freezing her to the core.  
Empty.  
Her eyes had been.. just empty.

Sure Liz had made the unfortunate experience to meet a slave of the pirates down by the marihuana fields once. He had tried to run away and nearly ran her over, but this..  
There was nothing.  
No light, no emotion, no person.  
This was a shell.  
An empty, broken shell. 

Ripping her eyes away, towards the floor, Liz tried not to let panic take over and just kept following Sam.  
_Don’t think about it. Don't think about it!_  
Unfortunately that wasn’t how brains worked.

Where was Sam bringing her to?  
Was there another room with a chair?  
Was this what was going on here?  
God.. did this Carl dude know something?

No no no, she did what was asked of her.  
There was at least some form of safety here, right?  
She was tasked with the order and delivered.  
Alec had looked it over.  
Her product was good.  
She did good.

It would lose them money to hurt her.  
Did Volker even know that?  
How much did he know about Liz?  
Did Alec tell him she was supplying him for the past near 1,5 to 2 years?  
That he wouldn’t be able to produce so much for the Tyrant without her help?  
Did he mention it?  
Surely it would be a waste of potential money to get rid of her now.  
Right?

She was ok.  
Everything was going to be ok. 

_In and Out_  
Remember?  
_In and Out_

In all her distraction, Liz didn’t notice the man stopping in front of a door at the end of the corridor and bumped into him.  
“Au..Oh, uhm. Entschuldigung.” (Sorry)  
At first he glared at her, but as soon as the german left her lips, Liz could watch a big smile flaring up.

“Ah! A fellow german, I see. Ja?”  
“Uhm. Ja tatsächlich.” (yes, indeed)  
She started rubbing over the hair in her neck a bit.  
It usually calmed her down.  
“Wunderbar!” (wonderful)  
She couldn’t really react, before the man took her free hand to shake it.  
“Sam der Name. Freut mich.” (Sam’s the Name. Pleasure.)

Why was he so friendly all of a sudden?  
“Hi. Lisa. Liz reicht aber völlig.”(Liz is enough though.)  
“Lisa? Ein schöner Name!” (A beautiful name!)  
Something about his german was off…  
“Es ist wirklich schön mal wieder jemanden aus der Heimat zu sehen!” (It is really nice to see someone from home again!)  
He had some kind of accent in it, but not a regional-german accent like Bavarian or Berlin..

Sam turned around and started to unlock the door. 

The room was rather empty. A few open lockers, a big table and a few chairs.  
A changing room?  
Oh god..

At first he stepped aside, making room for her to pass him, but before she could enter, Sam stopped her, with a concerned look.  
“Tu uns beiden einen Gefallen und leg **alle** deine waffen gleich auf den Tisch. Denk nicht mal daran irgendwas zu verstecken.”  
(Do us both a favor and put **all** your weapons on the table at once. Don’t even think about hiding something.)

Of course.  
This was just a safety measure.  
Everything was fine.  
This was just a logical routine.  
She was about to talk to the head honcho.  
There was no way they would let anyone near him, without checking them for weapons.  
They probably didn’t search Buck, because he was working for Hoyt for years already.  
“Und immer schön lächeln. Wir sind im Bild.” (And don’t forget to smile. We’re on camera.)

Was it weird, that the german was calming her down a bit?  
All in all this Sam guy had something supporting about him.  
He probably noticed that she was about to freak out.  
After another deep breath, Liz gave him a little nod.  
“Ok.”

So Liz got in, with Sam close behind her, hands on his weapons.  
The upper right corner had a camera watching them, with a red blinking light.  
“Put all your gear on the table.”  
They were back at ordering her around?  
Probably for the camera. 

So Liz started to unpack.  
Her Backpack, Bow, Machete and Hunting knife landed on the Table.  
She was going the extra step, to take off the holsters for all her stuff as well.  
The spool for her fishing contraption, that had found a permanent spot on her hip, to be attached as some kind of a Harpoon rope for getting too high up fruit and stuff, as well as her walky talky for Alec were leaving her belt.  
Looking through all her pockets, a few nice pebbles, little seashells, snail houses and a feather followed.  
Just like a pencil. 

“I may not be the Joker-”  
She turned back around to an actually amused looking Sam.  
“-but knowing my luck..”  
That reference got her a chuckle out of Sam, before his face turned serious again.  
“Was that all? Or do I have to search you?” 

The tone of voice alone gave her chills.  
He was dead serious.  
Maybe because of the camera?  
“I.. don’t think you need to. I mean.. did i forget something?”

Padding herself down, she tried to recount everything she had on her until she was sure.  
If she had anything now, that they would count as a weapon, they might shoot her for every small movement.

So she checked herself over again and then a third time, just to be sure.  
A good five minutes of emptying every one of her pockets for every little fuzzball, even turning them inside out, until they both were sure.  
“Aside from my clothes, I have nothing on me.”  
And that was when the realisation hit her, making her shoulders fall.  
“I have.. absolutely nothing on me.”

It felt close to naked.  
At first she thought, this would be fine, but now that everything was off..  
She had no means to defend herself now.  
Nothing.  
Not even a pencil.  
Two years ago, this would feel fine, but Liz was never fully unarmed like this.  
Heck! She usually slept with a knife in her hand!

Sam just nodded at her.  
“Good. Let’s go then.” 

Together they left and Sam locked the door with all her stuff.  
This was making it even more impossible to escape this place, if needed.  
_Great_.  
The two of them made their way past the men, which had scattered a bit and only threw little glances at her.  
Carl seemed to have disappeared.  
Thank fuck.

They went up the same flight of stairs that Buck had been escorted up earlier. 

Now her uneasiness and stomach aches got really bad.  
This was it.  
This was the finish line.  
She was going to meet the man himself. 

“Glaubst du, ich stecke in Schwierigkeiten?” (Do you think i’m in trouble?)  
Sam just kept walking up the stairs in front of her.  
“Hast du was angestellt?” (Did you do something?)  
“Nein.. zumindest nicht das ich wüsste.” (No.. At least nothing that i know of.)  
A nod.  
“Gut! Dann bleib einfach ruhig da drinnen. Solange du nicht versuchst ihm Lügen aufzutischen oder Beleidigungen an den Kopf wirfst, ist alles in Ordnung.” (Then just keep your calm in there. As long as you’re not trying to lie to him or throw insults at his face, you should be fine.)

This was odd.  
The tone with which he said it, sounded harsh, but the way he actually pronounced the words, was rather gentle.  
Like a verbal pat on the back, hidden in tone and language.  
The soldiers around must think he was ordering her around in german.  
Maybe even scolding her a little.  
So he hid that little display of kindness.  
Was it weird that this was somehow really nice?

The Upstairs was similar to the downstairs entry hall.  
A lot of stacked drug bags, the same quadratic layout, a few soldiers standing and sitting around.  
The room facing the stairs had an open door, showing yet another room with soldiers and drugs stacked on a desk.  
To the side was a closed door, with a pretty heavy armored guard blocking it. Just from the guess of how the rest of the downstairs was layouted, this must be where Hoyt lived.

On the opposite side, her german speaking guard led her past a few soldiers, who did not even glance at her, to a closed, windowed, double door.  
No sign of Buck or the man that carried her drugs upstairs.

Sam stopped them outside the door and waited a short moment in silence.  
He was listening.  
Liz tried focusing on any sound coming from the room.  
It was hard with the closed door, but after a second, the silence was ended by a match being lit 

They waited another 5 seconds, before Sam turned to her with a confident nod.  
He mouthed a short: ‘Viel Glück.’ (Good luck) before knocking and opening the door. 

“Doc’s ready.”  
“Ah, Yes, Yes! Bring her in.”  
This was a voice she had never heard before.  
It carried a rather friendly, but very authoritarian, south african? accent.  
Sam was looking at her, who was practically hiding behind the still closed door, next to him.  
He gave her a stern nod. 

Liz was frozen in place. Her entire body was shaking.  
She didn’t want to do this.  
It felt like she was a sheep and in this room was a dragon, ready to rip her apart.  
No.  
Liz had to move.  
This was the first impression this man was getting of her and she was hiding like a little child.  
But she didn’t want to do this..  
But she had to.

One deep breath and Liz learned a bit forward, letting her head creep past the door and glance in.  
It wasn’t the most admirable way, but it was the only thing her body allowed her to do. 

She couldn’t take in much of the room, before her eyes got trapped.  
A big desk, a big, brown, leather chair and in it a man. 

Dark brown, nearly black hair, a red button up with the last two or three buttons open.  
The grey jacket, golden necklace and cigar between his fingers finished the shady businessman look.  
This was him.  
Hoyt Volker. 

He was looking at her with curiosity and a smile.  
Tilting his head slightly the way she was leaning. 

“H..Hello.”  
Just plain hello? Really Liz?  
The first impression could make or break everything and you went with a plain and stuttered hello?!

But the tyrant just smiled, gave a nod and answered with a friendly:  
“Hello.”  
Hoyt made a gesture to the plain metal chair in front of his desk.  
“Come in. Take a seat.”  
From the sound of it, he was rather pleased and excited.  
Inviting even.

Looking for a last bit of help from Sam, he gave her a stern look.  
She should really move.  
Wasting Volkers time with her panic wasn’t going to help her at all.  
Come on muscles, unclench. 

Everyone already knew, she was bad shit scared, so why hide it?  
Just get rid of it.  
Liz closed her eyes to take a big breath of air.  
Her body relaxed a bit, when she exhaled.

Ok. She was ready. 

Liz made her way around the door and into the room.  
Sam was right behind her.  
The chair felt ice cold and way too hot at the same time.  
Now that she was sitting down, Liz flashed a fast look over the table.  
There was a pack of cigarettes, a box of cigars next to it, as well as matches and an ashtray.  
A small lamp, a few glasses next to a bottle of, what looked like, expensive whisky, a yellow folder and a bundle of cash.  
Her bags were neatly stacked on top of each other with a spoon, another glas and a bottle of water next to them.

“Thank you Sam. Take a cigarette break.”  
Wait what?  
Oh god no.  
Looking back up, Liz could see the man at the other side of the desk give a motion, indicating for her guide to leave.  
No. Don’t go. Don’t leave her alone in this!  
It took a few seconds, until the doors were closed. 

Now she had the full attention of this man.

“So!”  
Volkner clapped his hands together and rubbed them in anticipation.  
"Let's talk business, shall we?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is time for the talk.  
> Dun Dun Duuuuu.  
> I have a confession to make: The "No hello?" Line from Buck is actually my favorite line from him in the game. It just cracks me up, every time.  
> I hope you all liked it. :3  
> I'll try to finish the next chapter this year, but if i don't manage to, i wanna wish everyone nice holidays or if you don't celebrate, still a nice end of the year.  
> And again: Thank you to everyone who actually reads this all.  
> It honestly makes me so happy to see that this stuff thats coming out of my chaos brain is actually enjoyable to some poeple and i can't wait to keep going!  
> <3  
> Also:  
> I had a writing blockage the other day and was reading through a few old chapters and the comments and CuteVyper got me an idea.  
> So i made a playlist on Spotify. It's just a bunch of songs that i think of, when think about the story.  
> Some are from certain character perspectives, some just for vibes. But i thought i'd share it, because why not?  
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1UdHYyHM1ovqv5223QgL5Z?si=GgnGv5bjTFKWbKCu8xFr_w


	28. Let's talk business.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who managed to finish this in time for Christmas!  
> It's officially the longest chapter to this point and i'm kinda proud of myself for having managed this.  
> Also this is one of those that i had notes for since the beginning and i am really happy how it turned out.  
> So with no further a do:  
> Sit back and have fun!

“Now Lisa. I’ve heard quite the stories about you.”  
There was a calm and satisfied look on the face of Volker. 

She was really here.  
This was **Him**.  
Hoyt Volker.  
The man behind **everything**.  
He was the one controlling it all. 

“You.. did?”  
Liz was sitting in the chair facing the Tyrant of the Rook islands.  
Her hands in her lap, with only the fingertips crossed.  
To say she was nervous and uncomfortable was the understatement of her lifetime.

A confident nod found its way over the desk, as Volker started to gesticulate with his hands, while recounting.  
“Doctor Earnhardt is praising you to the sky.”  
That sent a small smile on her lips.  
Alec was such a good guy. 

“Multiple recommendations from employees close to my heart.”  
Multiple?

Alec was one.  
Did Buck say something?  
He just talked to him.  
Maybe Buck did in fact say something good and in her defense.  
He needed her, after all.

Employees close to his heart..  
Maybe Sam? He looked high rank.  
But he had no chance to say anything good about her.

_Oh…_  
Oh no.  
Wait.  
No way.  
_Vaas..?_  
Oh god.  
**He** did something. Didn’t he?

Alec had explained it to her the other night.  
Other than what Liz thought all this time, it wasn’t that the Pirates and Privateers were coexisting or somewhat working together.  
They weren’t.

The Pirates worked **for** Volker.  
It was less, like two companies working together and more like two different departments in the same company, or maybe even seen as contractors.  
Each with their own intern hierarchy but with the same person at the top of it all. 

While the Privateers had their ranks and higher ups that were reporting to Volker, the pirates all listened to Vaas, who was the only person in charge for all of them.  
But Vaas wasn’t just the leader of the Pirates.  
He was Volkers right hand. 

Controlling and leading the Pirates in the north was basically just the ‘department’ he was also taking care of.  
In return, he **only** answered to Hoyt.

All Privateers had an automatically higher rank than any Pirate.  
But if any Privateer, even the highest of them, were to try and command Vaas around, he could literally play a reverse Uno on them.  
Meaning he could actually also command the Privateers around, if he needed to.

What had been the most interesting about that revelation was that Liz had told Vaas about her understanding of the Island and it’s factions.  
He never corrected her. 

Vaas knew she was being tested by Hoyt.  
Did he try something?  
Like putting a good word in for her?  
Wait.  
Was that why he was so angry the other night?

Her thought process was disturbed as Volker just continued.  
“Showing a lot of cooperation towards my inner circle.”  
He motioned past her side. 

Following the gesture, Liz saw that across from a couch, that was next to the desk, was a TV.  
It was currently showing the camera feed of the changing room.  
All her things were still laying there on the table, neatly organized and waiting for her return.

“I really liked that.”

So he was watching them.  
_Thank you, Sam._

Looking back, Volker took the first bag of Firefly and placed it between them.  
“So. What did you bring me here?”

Was this a rhetorical question?  
There was literally a piece of tape, saying ‘Firefly 500g’ on it.  
Maybe he wanted to make sure she knew?

“It’s a 500 gram bag of Firefly?”  
Liz tried to regain her professional calm.

Volker nodded and then proceeded to lean forward on his elbows with one hand over the other.  
The face had changed completely.  
The smile was gone.  
“How. Pure. Is it?”

What was he talking about?  
Whatever it was, it wasn’t good.  
Liz could feel herself sink down in the chair.  
“I.. don’t think I follow?”

The face stayed serious, but took on just the faintest curious glimmer.  
“Well, I am giving you _one_ chance to tell the truth, Lisa. Is it pure or is it diluted?”  
It was like he was staring into her soul.

“Now, I am an understanding Boss. This is the first time. So if you confess now, I'll forgive it.  
Just. This. **Once**. We all had a rough week.  
I heard the weather was causing some trouble, delaying the work.”

The weather did cause trouble.  
Who told him?  
And for some odd reason, hearing this ‘if you messed up, it’s ok, Just say it’-kind of talk was.. calming?  
Still worrying and very much menacing but.. a little less?

But what in the world did he mean by pure or diluted?

While Liz struggled with her mind, Volker seemed to use the pause, to lean back into his chair and take a few drags from his cigar.  
Watching her thought process through her eyes. 

_diluted._

Come on brain. Do the english.  
What the frick was diluted again?  
The thing your eyes did in the darkness?  
No.. that was dilated. 

Dulited.. diluted..  
**Fucking diluted!**  
Maybe try and put it in context?  
Something was either pure or diluted.

What the fuck was that supposed to-  
_Ooooh._

Diluted or pure.  
Like stretched or pure.  
He wanted to know if she mixed something in, to get to the right amount.  
If her drugs were _gestreckt_. (Stretched or diluted)

“You mean, as in what some companies do with honey and fruit sugar?”  
It was a guess, but the only real thing she could think of. 

It seemed the giant lightbulb in her head was visible, giving the slightly amused look on the face opposite of her.  
“Yes.”

“Ok. That explains a lot. Sorry. My brain wasn’t able to translate diluted there for a second. But No. It is, in fact, pure.”  
Forcing a confident nod from herself, Liz continued.

“I followed Al- Dr. Earnhardt's instructions as closely as possible. I want to say I am confident in this product, but to be completely honest with you:  
This is the entirety of my experience with anything drug related, as I don't take any. Meaning near everyone else on these islands is most likely going to be a better judge of it’s quality than me.” 

There was a pleased smile looking over to her.  
“Let’s take a look then, shall we?”

Liz watched as Volker took out a hunting knife from under his desk.  
_Great. He is armed now._  
This naked and helpless feeling was about to wash itself over her body, but another ‘Oh shit’ moment was taking over.  
Just before the knife could touch and cut the plastic bag, she held her hands up, in a ‘be careful’ kind of motion.  
“Wait.”

Great idea, Liz!  
Command the fucking head honcho to do something.  
That surely won’t have any horrible repercussions.  
But before Volker was even able to look at her or do anything for her callout, she continued.

“Firefly is a very, **very** light powder. If the bag is going to be cut open like this, there is a very good chance a lot of it will just start flying around your office. I made a flap at the backside, for easy opening and to make the bag resealable.”  
Instead of annoyed or pissed, she received a rather impressed look. 

“Interesting.”  
After placing the knife on the table, in easy reach for himself, an open warning, and turning the bag over, the side filled with written on tape was revealed. 

Liz could see Volker take a closer look at all her notes on the bag, including the countless weights and also the _Open here_ written on one of the tapestrips.  
It had a fold on the downside to make it easier to peel and another tapestrip under that one to reduce the chance of accidentally ripping the plastic bag open.

The half chuckle took her by surprise.  
“Very detailed.”

Ok **now** she was really uncomfortable. 

Volker had a very humored look on his face and even went as far as looking at the underside of the other two bags.  
“ **Very** detailed.”

“... Too much?”  
There was a mild panic building in Liz's belly.  
“I-I just.. I just wanted to make sure. This is a first try after all… First impression and all.  
And with everything I heard, I just wanted to make sure everything is correctly labeled, but the packaging has its own weight, so i just... I-”

Just the mere eyecontact made her shut up again. 

It wasn’t aggressive or anything, Liz just really didn’t want to piss this man off in any way.  
You know, with things like talking too much.  
There was yet again a mix of amusement and interest facing her, while Volker was pouring a glass of water from the bottle.

_"Let’s just say there are people who will like that about you a lot more than you think."_

“I guess you could blame it on german precision?”  
It was meant as an insecure, stupid, stereotype joke, that was accompanied by a small shrug.

But Boy...  
It was like a switch was being flipped.  
The entire posture in front of her changed.  
The air around Volker suddenly seemed a lot more.. open?  
Like.. a little less Intimidating?  
It was hard to describe.

He didn’t say a word, but after a short eyebrow raise, the bag was opened via the flap and Volker took a first good look into the bag.  
Then he looked back at her. 

There was a long pause, where the tyrant just studied her, which caused Liz to start shrinking in her seat again.  
Was something wrong?  
Did she make a mistake, that Alec and her both missed?

Just before panic was able to really take her over again, Volker moved once more.

The glass of water was placed between them.  
There were bubbles floating upwards from the bottom.  
Carbonated water? 

Next, Volker took the teaspoon on the table, dipped it in the bag and started to mix half a teaspoon of the grey powder into the glass.  
For a moment she thought, he would ask her to consume a dose of Firefly, but what happened next, made her mouth fall open.

At first there was nothing.  
Then the water started to bubble and get a greenish color.  
Like a light green hue.  
It was faint, but impressive nonetheless.  
In it many little flashes of yellow dots were floating around.  
Like if someone had put glitter in it, but less material and more dusty particle looking.

It kind of looked like a swarm of fireflies flying over a field.  
First the flying spores in the cave and now this.  
Firefly really was a fitting name.

After just about two or three seconds, the hue dissolved and the water was left with just a greyish muddy look to it.  
It also wasn’t fizzy anymore.  
Like when a multivitamin tablet had dissolved in a glass. 

How did this just happen?  
Alec didn’t tell her this would happen.  
Sure she knew that dissolving it in water and drinking Firefly was one of the many ways to take the drug, but he never said anything about the lightshow.

Did the water's carbon dioxide reactivate the bioluminescent properties of the mushroom and spores?  
That made no sense, but it just happened.  
What the fuck?

Wait.. the green was from the mushroom and the yellow spots were spores.  
It wouldn’t do this, if there wouldn’t be a certain minimum of spores and shrooms.  
This was a purity test! 

Looking back up, Volker looked very much pleased, while closing the bag and resealing it.  
“That’s great work, kid.”

Liz couldn’t really stop herself from releasing a sigh of relief.  
“Thank you.” 

“I take it Earnhardt didn’t tell you about this?”  
“No.”  
Liz shook her head slightly. 

“Good.”  
A very amused look was on the tyrant's face, before it turned serious again.  
This man was just playing with her emotions, wasn’t he? 

“You seem to be able to deliver good work.”  
A good drag from the cigar later, she thought her ears were dysfunctional for a moment, hearing the words flung at her.  
“I want the same amount in a week from now.” 

**What?!**

"Tha-”  
Liz swallowed and tried to straighten her face.  
How was she supposed..?  
“That is, unfortunately, impossible."

Once again, the face changed to an unpleasant look.  
Everything in Liz screamed to just give in and say:  
‘ _Of course Mr. Volker. Everything to make you happy._ ’

No.  
She couldn’t budge now. 

If she didn’t say no now, she was done for, as soon as the deadline hit her.  
Show some balls Liz.  
Stand up for yourself and don’t make promises you can’t keep.  
Explain why it is impossible.  
Make him understand.  
So she straightened her back and looked the man in the eye, before continuing. 

“It’s not the process or anything. I mean, I won't lie. It **is** very tedious and time consuming and I wasn’t able to do anything except make this, meaning I also wasn’t able to go and supply Dr. Earnhardt, but that isn’t the main problem here.”  
It was weird, but somehow her nervousness seemed to disappear.  
This was business mode. 

"From my past experiences in communication of production work in any kind, to the people who are responsible for sales and management or well.. the head of the entire business.”  
She motioned from herself over to Volker.

“I will assume that you are not fully aware of what stands behind the production of this individual drug. Which is a given.  
I mean that is what Dr. Earnhardt is here for and you definitely have a million other things on your day to day mind, running this entire thing.  
So I will just keep this as a brief look into what is behind it, so you can understand the problem. If that would be ok?”

Everything was ok.  
This was something she had done before.  
Back in the Watchmakers workshop she had to explain to a few of the sales personnel why certain wishes of customers weren’t possible and if she did try to fulfil them, the watches wouldn’t work. 

They then could relay that to the customer and they got to decide, if they wanted something functional or something exactly how they wanted word for word, but broken.  
This time, she just had to talk to the man running a drug and humantrafficing ring, instead of someone who just worked in sales.  
No problem at all…

A small hand movement told her to continue.

“About 85% of Firefly is composed of a rare bioluminescent mushroom.  
What’s important to note, this mushroom, following Al-, pardon me, Dr. Earnhardt's studies seems to be a regional mutation of the Mycena kentingensis, having developed to only grow in one specific cave system on the Northern Rook island.  
To produce about 500g of Firefly, a total of 3kg of mushroom is required. Meaning for these 3 bags I had to collect about 9kg of mushroom.  
In other words: there are currently no adult size mushrooms left in the cave. It was barely enough to reach the requested amount. The about one teaspoon that was too much, is back at the mansion, as i wanted to be as accurate with the weights as possible.”

Main info out of the way. Let’s get to the details.  
Another deep breath.

“Anyway.  
If I were to, as you requested, deliver this type of drug more frequently, it would take just the next delivery of this size, which i wouldn’t be able to reach in the slightest, to make this species go completely extinct.  
Now I know there is the question of growing them ourselves and we did in fact try that.  
The Dr. and I tried multiple times over the last year, to create an environment that allows them to grow more controlled in the greenhouse or one of the caves under the mountain the mansion stays on, but it just isn't possible. The mushroom is too fragile.  
It’s like the rose of the fungi family. You either have the perfect environment or it dies.”

What else did she learn in talking to customers and salespeople?  
Make them do the hard decisions, but let them know of the consequences first.

“Even if i were to ignore the definite extinction of the species and would just collect the remaining ones, those would all be significantly smaller in size and lack the extreme density of hallucinogenic substances. It would result in a drug about....”  
Liz ran the numbers in her head for a moment.

“14 times weaker. To make it more visual: The difference in cap size for a 2 week old specimen"  
She showed a circle about the size of her palm.  
"And a 4 week old specimen"  
The circle was about 5 times the size of her hand. 

"which is the adult size. Is ridiculous.  
They also, unlike most mushrooms, can’t reproduce via root network, as they are a root-shy species. The only way to reproduce is via the spores.”

After finishing the sentence, Liz snapped her fingers once.  
“Which reminds me that i just talked bullshit. It wouldn’t be 14 times weaker.”  
Her eyes started darting around the room, sorting her brain.

“Because only adult mushrooms produce spores.  
Which contain not only substances that cause certain slight hallucinations, but also work as a form of antidote for the rather high amounts of amygdalin that is inside the crushed seeds.  
If you weren’t aware, amygdalin gets converted into cyanide by the human body. It’s also found in cherry pits, as an example.  
The spores bind the amygdalin, stopping any conversion, while the other properties of the seeds make the body relax and work in tandem with the remaining ingredients.”

Liz was looking back to Volker.  
The man was leaning back in his chair, with his feet crossed up on his desk, watching and listening to her.  
“Or in other words: Using sub adult mushrooms would turn this drug into a highly toxic substance. It also wouldn’t be able to glow like this, since it would be lacking the yellow shine of the spores.”

Liz ended her explanation with a shrug.  
“That being said, at the end of the day, it’s your call. You’re in charge, after all. So..Should i go and **try** to make more or should we wait and let the ecosystem recover? ”  
It was an honest question. 

_He is the Boss.  
You are just the worker.  
He makes the calls.  
You just do as you are told. _

The tyrant was just finishing his cigar, snuffing it in the ashtray, when she finished.  
“Not bad.”  
He nodded a few times.  
“And how long would you recommend to wait, so the resources can regrow?”

There was no real time to do the math in her head, so Liz just spoke out her best guess.  
“Well, there were a few subadults in the cave. Those should mature in about one to two more weeks. They still need to produce spores, though.. and to reproduce, they need to release enough spores.”  
That wouldn’t be enough. She had to make a call right now. Just the look Volker gave her told her that. 

_If a customer asks you to make the call, make a call and make it count._

“I would recommend letting the cave rest for at least 4 weeks.  
Like that all currently remaining mushrooms can grow to a full adult size.  
The already subadult ones should have enough time to grow fully **and** reproduce the population to a healthier size.  
Still, after that period of time, I would also recommend starting production with a smaller amount and then slowly rise up to a steady and more reasonable amount.  
The cave was pretty much full, when I collected for this delivery.  
Therefore I would say after a 4 week pause and a slow build up afterwards, there could be more frequent processing, but nothing more than 250g per two weeks.  
Just to make sure we don’t accidentally overharvest or overstress the ecosystem and run out of shrooms.” 

To say Liz was surprised by the confidence in her own voice, wouldn’t be too far off the truth.  
Still she was proud of herself.  
There was not a single stutter, falter or pause in her voice and damn it showed its effects!

Eyebrows high and an impressed look on his face, Volker picked up the yellow folder on the table.  
“Would you look at that? You, not only, deliver quality, you also seem to know your shit. No false promises.”  
He nodded a few times, taking a good look into the folder.

So he was aware of the impossibility of his request?  
Another test?  
This was basically an interview by now, wasn’t it?  
Was it weird, that it felt like she was doing amazing up to now?

“Well then, I’ll trust your expertise on this, Miss.. Kaffkind?” 

Taking his feet off the table again and sitting straight in his chair, Volker stared her down once more. 

“Now i wonder: What brings a young, intelligent woman from germany, with a.. rather _interesting_ last name-”  
Oh no.. _he knew_.  
“-unnoticed by my men for a good two years, all the way here, to my office, wanting to join my humble business?”

It was time.

“I am a horrible liar, so.. I won't even try.”  
Maybe admitting that from the beginning could help her?  
“I guess i can only be honest and hope for the best?”  
Taking a deep breath she started.

“I came to Rook nearly two years ago for a bachelor party of one of my friends. A drive and party trip. We were captured, but I managed to flee. Once i realized there is no way off this island, i started to integr-”  
“Stop.”

The voice was ice cold, stopping her immediately.  
The folder was closed with a swift hand movement and set down.

“Let’s start with that. I already know about your little escape. What I want to know is: How?”  
Oh.  
“Or more _**your**_ version of it.”  
Volker looked a bit pissed, but somehow it didn’t feel aimed at her.  
**_Oh._**

_”Do you even know how **fucking hard** that was to explain?!”_

Vaas said that at the beach, when he heard about her escape.  
He probably had to come up with some lie back then.  
Didn’t he say something about blaming the Rakyat?

But if he and Volker talked about her since then, what did Vaas tell him?  
Did he correct himself?  
How did he describe the breakout?  
What kind of version did he tell?  
Would she be getting him into trouble, if she told the truth?  
But she also couldn’t lie.

Swallowing the heavy lump building in her throat, Liz started to explain.

“It was a group effort. We weren’t captured for long and just put into the cages.  
A guard dropped one of the keys without noticing and one of my friends was able to get it.  
Once we were alone, he freed everyone from their binds, by cutting the ropes with the key and unlocked the door, leaving it closed.  
We waited for the right moments, when no one was paying close attention to us and passed the key around.  
We did the same with all the other cages, still acting as if we were trapped.  
To our already giant luck the Rakyat launched an attack on the outpost where we were held, once it was dark. So we took the opportunity to open our cages and flee.” 

It was subconsciously, but Liz started to hug herself lightly.  
She never thought that she would ever have to retell this story towards the most dangerous man she ever met.  
The one who probably sold…  
No. None of her friends were sold. They were all killed here.  
That’s what she told herself all this time and she wasn’t going to think anything else now.  
Who cared about the truth anyway?  
It made her feel so small again.

“It was noticed pretty quickly and we were followed by cars and dogs. There was so much gunfire..  
Splitting from the big group, seemed like the smartest thing to do.. and well..  
Not everyone seemed to have that idea.  
I later found out that a few of our group didn’t survive the night.” 

_"We had to shoot 4 of those fuckers!"_  
It hurt thinking about it, because Liz was sure, this man before her thought the exact same way about the situation, as Vaas did.  
_"Do you have any idea **how much** money i lost on this?!"_

“I guess, since we weren’t there for long, I was just overlooked and forgotten, when they recaptured my friends. Who knows? Maybe they thought I ran into a tiger?  
But ever since then i’ve been roaming the northern island.” 

Liz was staring at the table.  
Just because she couldn’t lie very well, didn’t mean she couldn’t keep a few things to herself.  
Like her brothers.  
Or the fact that Vaas accidentally started this chainreaction.  
No need to throw them under the bus with her. 

Letting out a melancholic laugh, she looked back up at Volker who was studying her features.  
“To be fair.. it wasn’t that much of the pirates' fault. We just had the most **ridiculous** luck on our side..  
I mean, the keytosses we pulled off were unbelievable. Like straight from a movie.  
And without that attack, that we had no clue was about to happen, we probably wouldn’t even have gotten a chance to actually run, in the first place.”  
The man facing her was looking a bit amused about her defense for the pirates. 

Then her own face turned serious again, as Liz remembered the rest of the night.  
“And.. just because it will bite me in the ass, if I don’t clear it up right now: I got found by the Rakyat and taken in for the night.”  
This, once again, seemed to catch Volkers instresed.  
There was this spark of.. something.

It was hard to think of, but at least now, she had already talked with somebody about it once.  
So maybe this time she could do it without crying.  
Liz started to slowly loosen the bandage and unwrap her arm.

“They were friendly at first, but i don’t remember much. I passed out and woke up to this.”  
Turning the inside of her arm towards Volker, the man mustered the black lines of ink with a serious and unhappy look.

“The man tattooing me **in my sleep** , told me how my escape was a _sign by the gods_ and how I was supposed to _fight and lead_ them in this war.”  
Liz's voice was about as unamused as the face looking back at her. 

“Let’s just say he wasn’t very happy when the german tourist **girl** that just woke up to a random man tattooing her arm, after escaping from a nightmare, leaving her friends behind, told him that fuck no, i won’t.”

It was a bit of a surprise to herself, but instead of feeling the pain again, this time Liz got angry. 

“Like.. What the fuck? I mean even if we put the tattooing random, unconscious people and the horrible sexism of ‘how dare you are a woman and not tell me while you are literally unconscious? I wouldn’t have put that tattoo on you otherwise. Bla bla bullshit.’ aside.  
What are these people thinking? I mean, you know?  
A jungle tribe with a few guns VS a bunch of pirates with more and bigger guns and, as I learned later, a private military with **even more and even bigger** guns?  
And they ask random touries to kill for them?  
Yeah, uhm.. I am sorry, but I’m not suicidal!  
So I left.  
I found some people in Bad Town that were willing to take me in for a few days and help me out. After that I left the town again and started to find my own place and adapt to the world around me more. Then I met Dr. Earnhardt, we came to the deal of bringing him certain plants and herbs in exchange for money and or medicine and whatever he would trade.  
The rest is history.” 

Volker let her talk and it looked a lot, like she should keep doing so.

“As for my.. _interesting_ name.”  
Liz gave a short defeated sigh.  
“It’s not real. Kaffkind is a made up name. I took it after realizing I won't be able to leave Rook.  
It means ‘village child’ in german or, more specifically, my dialekt. It helped me accept my situation and to not think about my past, friends and family that are now lost to me.  
But Lisa is my real first name.”

There were only a few nods, before Volker spoke in, what felt like ages.  
“That’s an interesting story. One could say, hard to believe at some points.”  
Was that an accusation?  
On the other hand, she could definitely see where he was coming from.  
So, while she reattached the bandage on her arm, Liz explained.

“Well, if it is about the whole survival aspect.. I do have a bit of an advantage over most people.  
I grew up on a farm. Mostly agriculture, but we did have a few farm animals for personal use and some hobby breeding projects on the side.  
Or in other words:  
Getting up at the crack of dawn and getting to work has been my usual since I was a child.  
I know how to butcher and prepare different animals including venison.  
I know how to identify a good place to plant or find edible plants and stuff like making bread and building things to help me.  
Not to mention I picked up archery as a hobby half a year before we took the trip here.  
I would like to say that I am pretty good at it, given my eye hand coordination from working as a watchmaker and of course the two years of extensive training and experience I gathered by now.  
But yes.  
It was still extremly hard to make it this long and i fully admit that i was saved many, many times by nothing but dumb luck.  
Meeting Dr. Earnhardt relatively early and being taught about the exotic plants around me was also a huge help.” 

Something told her, she spoke too much.  
But the more she laid open, the less this man could be suspicious of her, right?

“A farmer?”  
There was this interested smile again.  
“Usually good workers.” 

Well, he wasn’t wrong.  
She could watch the man before her looking down into the folder again.  
It was open on the desk. 

_Don’t do it, Liz._  
She had to resist.  
No peeking.  
This was, obviously, a folder about her.  
Probably all the information he had on her. 

Volker again nodded a few times.  
“You have to know. I value honesty towards me in my employees, Lisa. I have to admit, you are a lot more promising, than what i expected. An open book in front of me.” 

That.. the way it was worded made it sound, kind of ominous. Even though it was a compliment?

“Well, like I said, I am a bad liar. I am also aware that I am in no situation of control right now. This?”  
Liz motioned for the room, making sure not to use any sudden movements.  
“Isn’t something I ever expected to happen.” 

There was a hearty chuckle coming her way.  
Volker was looking back up at her.  
“I like you. You make me laugh. Everyone in business is so god damn serious! You seem like an honest and intelligent, young woman, Lisa. A pleasure to work with.”  
That was.. such a nice compliment?  
It actually slipped a small smile on her face. 

Keeping the eye kontakt, Liz could see Volker grab something from the folder.

“So tell me.”  
The smile on his face faded, replaced by a spark of anger, that had been hidden all this time.  
“Do we need to take this conversation downstairs-”  
Volker threw something on her side of the Desk.  
Breaking the eye contact, she looked down.  
“Or will we continue here?”

Liz was staring down at the table with big eyes and an open mouth, whispering a silent:  
“Och nö...” (Oh no/Oh come on.)

She was looking down at 3 photos.  
Her sitting on a rock while Jason was in the water with a wooden spear.  
Her crouching around with bow in hand, Jason following suit.  
Them together at a fire, roasting fish.

**Fuck. You. Buck.**

_”..These little actions-shots won’t reach Hoyts desk..”  
**These.**_  
This son of a bitch had more fucking photos!  
He only said he would keep the ones from the raid to himself.  
Of course he would fucking blindsight her!  
This stupid asshole!

To be fair, these were a lot easier to explain. 

_Downstairs_  
That word just screamed torture for some reason.  
It didn’t take Liz a single thought. 

“No. We can continue here.”  
It was like she was on autopilot, as she sorted the pictures into a timeline.  
“I said I will be honest and I like to keep my word.” 

Liz had to properly explain her connection with Jason to Volker.  
This was terrifying, but her fear just activated her survival mode once more.  
She either explained herself to his linking now or it was over for her. 

“I met Jason about 6 days before the first photo was taken.”  
She pointed next to her timeline, as if there would be a photo.

“At first I thought we ran into each other by accident, but the more time passes, the more I feel like he was looking for me. There is a small rumor in Bad Town, that I, well, exist.  
Someone who already managed to flee.  
It was just general conversation. Mostly who I am, why I am so deep in pirate territory, not with the natives and so on.  
I didn’t tell him about my _experience_ with the Rakyat, though.  
He was already deeply connected to them, so I didn't want to antagonize him.”

Her finger wandered to the first photo of her on the hunt with Jason following suit.

“Shortly before this photo was taken, Jason had approached me again and asked for advice. He wanted to know more about the Island and how I hunt and move in this environment. I admit, I had a lot of sympathy for him back then.”

It was a really hard task to face Volkers cold and calculating look, but she had to push through.

“I was a fresh runaway once too. I knew what it felt like.  
He lost his friends, his brother was shot before his eyes.  
He was lost and the Rakyat literally pulled the same thing, they tried to pull with me, before hearing I was a woman.  
Back then I would have given anything to have someone show me the way of the jungle and how to actually do all of this.  
So when he asked me, I helped. That day I teached him how to properly hunt for deer and move a bit more silently, through the jungle.”

The second Photo was the one of her sitting down, watching Jason spearfish.

“We met again about 4 days later. After showing him how to improve his spearfishing, we got to talk.”

Her finger pointed to the last picture. 

“These two photos are about an hour apart from each other. He asked me, why I never tried rescuing any captives, if I was able to move unnoticed around the pirate territory.  
And this is where I made a mistake.  
Not only did I tell him that I am not a fighter and that running into a camp and opening cages would help nobody, but I also told him about my secret supply route.” 

There was no emotion whatsoever readable from Volkers face.  
Now how was she going to explain that, without giving everything away?

“Over my time on Rook I managed to get myself a supply route going with a pirate.”  
That wasn’t technically a lie.  
The pirate in question just never knew about it.

“It was mostly for easy supplies like clothing, but also harder to get things like first aid kits and my mechanical hunting bow.”  
Liz pointed her thumb over her shoulder, in the direction of the TV.

“Well, after hearing that, Jason wanted in and stupid me believed, that when i showed him life could be managable, he would finally accept his fate, stop his sensless ‘one man against everyone’ bullshit, lay low and once everyone thought he was dead, just take on a new name and integrate himself into the society.” 

She let out a deep sigh.

“I know, I was naive and stupid, but something made me want to believe in the good in Jason's heart. Or at least his sanity and common sense.”

Her hand was over her own face in a facepalm, before she continued. 

“As you can guess, ‘believe in the good in people’-me was wrong.  
Jason stabbed me in the back. I made him promise so many times, that he wouldn’t cause trouble while i introduced him to my system, because I depended heavily on it and am also not a fighter.  
And as soon as we were there, he started killing people and completely dismantled my supply route.  
Not only that, but he then left me behind in a mess of chaos and gunfire to die. Like.. thanks for nothing Jason!”

There was some curiosity facing her, as Volker watched Liz talk herself in a small rage.  
She pressed out an aggravated laugh.

“I don’t know what kind of power trip he was on, but within the same day, he pulled that stunt with the pirate compound. This knife fight or something?”

Her voice dripped with sarcasm, as Liz put on the biggest fake smile.  
“Yes. Thank you, Jason. Please make everyone's lives even harder. How nice of you.”

Crossing her arms in front of her, Liz took a deep breath to calm down a bit.  


It wasn’t a lie.  
That did happen all during the same day.  
Volker didn’t have to know that it was within the same moment.  


“I haven’t seen Jason since and I am honestly very happy about it.  
While I do understand that he is angry and has yet to understand his actual situation, you just don’t fucking backstab people who have been nothing but nice to you!  
And just because you are probably going to want it to be spoken out, just for the record:  
No.  
If he **ever** asks me for help again, I won’t help him.  
He can go and shove his problems up his ass for all I care.  
I tried to be nice. I tried to be civil. I tried to help and find a peaceful solution to this mess.  
He chose his path and I don't want to have anything to do with him and his bullshit anymore.”

Taking another deep breath, Liz managed to reclaim her calm completely and got rid of her salty tone.

“Losing my supply route, caused Dr. Earnhardt, this angel of a man, to propose his idea of an apprenticeship.  
I was already doing a lot of work for him and after this setback, he was hoping he could help me out in return.  
Which brings us to now.  
Sitting here, talking to you, hoping i didn’t just fuck myself.” 

There was a long moment of silence between them.  
Liz was trying her best, not to fall into a panic, while she was being mustered and judged by the man in front of her.  
After a good minute, Volker took a pen and wrote something down inside the folder.

“You a virgin?”

“w..what?”  
Did she hear that wrong?  
The glance, meeting her half way, was enough of a warning.  
“n-no. I am not.”

“Good to know.”  
After another short note, the man closed his folder and got up.  
With his back to her, he was looking out of the windowed front, down onto the island. 

Why did he just ask her that?

_.. Wasn’t it obvious?_  
A deep pit formed itself in Lisa’s stomach. 

He was planning on selling her.  
Those notes were probably calculations for her price.  
Virgin or non Virgin was definitely something impacting it.  
This was human trafficking they were takling about after all. 

Her body began to shiver.  
Nearly immediately, her eyes wandered to the knife on the table.  
Liz didn’t have it in her to kill someone.. not to mention there was no way out of this situation. 

Outside were so many guards.  
Her stuff was all locked away.  
She was trapped.  
A hunting knife couldn’t help her.

She didn’t want this..  
Liz didn’t want to end up like that.  
Not like the girl in that room downstairs.  
She had to get out of this..  
There had to be something, anything..

God fucking damn it!  
_Breathe._  
Shut the fuck up, memory Vaas!  
Liz did not need you’re stupid shit right now!  
She was doing this alone just fine.  
_In and Out.  
In and Out._

There was an amused sound coming from Volker.  
“That boy..”  
It was just a whisper, but it sounded.. happy?  
He was shaking in his head a little, staring downward.

From the windowed front, you could see down to the bridge.  
At the harbor a big ship had just arrived.  
A yacht to be specific.  
I looked rather big and glamorous, even from here.

“I am not going to lie, I am very impressed.”  
What?  
Was he talking about the boat?  
It wasn’t a whisper anymore.

“It is the happiness of my people that gets me up each morning. This little testrun was just meant to humor my employees.”

So everything was just a game?  
This shot she had was never even real?  
Why the fuck did she just explain all this to him?  
She answered all these questions for nothing?

He probably only wanted to play with her emotions, giving her hope, just to smash her to the floor afterwards..

There was another amused chuckle and Liz could see Volker was making eye contact, through the windows reflection.  
“And what do they bring me?” 

Turning around there was a big smile on the tyrant's face, who was happily clapping his hands and rubbing them together.  
“A diamond in the rough!”

“W..wha..?”  
There was, once again, a complete shift of tone and mood around this man. 

“You know. I can read people. You?”  
Pointing at her, Volker was making his way back over to his desk, leaning over it towards her.

“You commit to your work, adapt to your surroundings!  
An honest and hard worker from birth.  
Answering my questions, with an eye for detail and a mindset towards improval.”  
There was a small gesture to her bags.

“You could have easily agreed to a second delivery, just to make me happy right now.  
What if I promised my customers more because of that? That could have led to straining the relationship with them. Staining the name of my business!  
Instead, you show the courage to inform me of problems before they impact my business.  
That is the kind of professionalism I like!  
I see a lot of potential in you, Lisa.”

Things were going a bit too fast for her right now.  
First he wanted to sell her, but now she had potential?  
What was happening right now?  
Was he going to just smack her with reality again after this little praise and sell her?  
Or was he serious right now?

“Now.”  
Leaning back in his seat, Volker lit himself a new cigar.

“You are no longer working for Earnhardt. You are working for **me** , but **with** the doctor.  
You are to focus on the special products he is making for me. Things that are worth being sold off the island.  
Dr. Earnhardt is not my only source, as you could probably guess.”

Wait, wait, wait.  
She was getting her Orders?  
Wait. She did it?  
Was this Volker telling her she actually was getting out of this place again?  
What?  
There was a strange wave of _‘Heck yeah’_ and _‘Oh no..’_ washing over her. 

“As soon as you are confident in the product, you will deliver it to me.  
If it takes too long, I will check in myself or send someone to find out what the fuck is taking so long.”

Once again, all she could do was nod.  
“Uh..Ok. S-sure.”

Holy shit.  
She was actually doing this.  
Alec was her official colleague now.  
Liz was officially working for Hoyt Volker.  
Who was now looking at her with a rather melancholic smile...

“My father, rest his soul, was a diamond miner.  
Got up at the crack of dawn each morning. Smoked a cigarette. Down into the earth he went.”

Weird moment to bring it up, but who was she to judge right now?  
Liz just told him her past on Rook, why not turn the table?

“For that wonderful, wonderful man, the company. was. **god**.” 

Volker was smiling, holding his arms open.  
“I bring that same reverence to my humble business here.”  
Humble?  
“And I expect all of my employees to do the same.”

Liz gave a few small nods to that too.  
This was him telling her that her life was now completely in his hands.  
He knew who she was and where to find her.  
_Do your job or else._

“There are only 3 company rules.  
First: Protect my Product.  
Second: Kill any native on sight.  
And finally: All profits got to me.”

Well, Fuck.  
How was she supposed to do that?!  
She couldn’t fight off someone who tried to steal.  
These guys had fucking guns!

Also, killing any native on sight?  
Liz ran into the Rakyat too many times.  
Trying to kill them on sight would result in her death **so fast**.  
Not to mention that she would **never** kill somebody.

The tyrant didn’t give her much more time to think, as he continued.

“Now. We’re all here to make it back. Let’s talk money.”  
Right.. She was working.  
Meaning that she was also going to be paid.

Liz had no idea how much these drugs were worth.  
Or her working time.  
This was definitely going to go well.

“How much did the doctor already tell you?” 

If only she had her cheatsheet.  
Liz did know it all already, but with the sheet, she would be a bit more confident.

“Deliveries for you are, usually, picked up by someone. They get brought to you and once you’re happy, we get paid.”  
A nod.

“If there is a delivery for the pirates, they pick it up and they pay at pickup. And if someone wants to buy something we have in stock, they also pay at pickup.”

“Good. There is just one tiny detail we will change.”  
Just the tone made her uncomfortable.  
“After all, you still owe me money.”

Say what?  
Taken aback, Liz looked at him confused.  
“I.. do?” 

Volker, again, leaned back in his chair, cigar in hand, feet on his desk.  
“Of course. It doesn’t happen often that I hire my own _product_.”  
Just hearing him describe her with that word, made Liz wince.  
He just chuckled. 

“In all my years, building and running this business, my life's work, I’ve never done this before. Isn’t that funny? This is a first for me too. Exciting!”  
The chuckle subsided, but the smile stayed.  
“Still, I hate losing money and you’ve been running around for free for what? Nearly two years, was it?”

Oh god. Liz did not like the direction this was taking.  
“Nearly two years yes..”

“And now you are here.”  
Three fingers were raised to her attention.  
“See, I have 3 buyers in line already and your work for me isn’t exactly worth that much right now. So currently, I would make more by just selling you.” 

There was cold sweat starting to gather on her skin.  
Please..  
Everything but that.  
_Fucking asshole._  
Liz could see the amusement on his face, while Volker studied hers. 

“To make up for lost time and to make you worth the trouble until you’re actually worth keeping around for good, I will be keeping 60% of your pay for everything delivered to me. Also you’ll be giving me a 25% cut of what you’re selling in the north.” 

This actually surprised her.  
In a good way.  
Somehow Liz had guessed, that if anything, she was going to earn less in the beginning.  
After all, she didn’t have all the knowledge, yet.  
But this?

“Understood?” 

She did, but something told her there was more.  
Volker had basically just told her, she was already on the market and that she’ll basically be paying _rent_ for her freedom.. with interest, as it seemed.  
Just.. _put on hold_ for now.

While a part of her was freaking out about it, another got curious, hopeful even.  
If she could play her cards right, Liz could get something out of this, that she really wanted. 

Taking a deep breath, she looked the man in the eyes.  
“Yes, I do. But-”  
Volkers face immediately changed, causing her to lift her hands a little bit in a defensive manner.

“Just hear me out, please. I think you’ll like what i am about to propose. If not, you can still say no afterwards.”

For a moment, it looked like he was going to say no, but the hand motion to continue still came. 

“Well, before i can really make my proposition, i have a few questions, regarding your rules. Again, to avoid mistakes. I mean, they are pretty straight forward, but I am kind of in a weird spot.  
I can’t really fight off someone who tries to steal. I know this never happened with Dr. Earnhardt, but I fear some people, especially the pirates might try something, given that I am not only new but also a woman.  
If I try something funny, they’ll just shoot me and that would be a Lose-Lose situation for both of us, if you ask me.  
I mean, I could warn them of who exactly they’re stealing from, get a description, a name maybe. And if they still go through with it, report it and go to work on a replacement?  
Or.. what am i supposed to do?” 

The face was neutral.  
“Exactly that.” 

Oh. That was easy.  
Now to the harder part.

“I don’t know what to say about the second rule, except.. also how? If I try anything with the Rakyat, I’ll be dead in under a minute.  
I run into them every now and then, when I am supplying the Dr. We usually just ignore each other and move on. I don’t know how Dr. Earnhardt deals with this one..”

Volker, in all honesty, looked bored by now.

“So.. I know I am leaning myself a bit far out of the window by asking this, but.. for me.. half assing the first rule and basically ignoring the second.. Just so I won't be dead by next week. Also catching up on two years and my _problematic background_ -”  
She was pointing at the photos.  
“I would like to capitalize on your third rule..” 

That seemed to spark Volkers interest again.

“I am not asking Dr. Earnhardt to kill for me, so I won't ask you.  
Protecting my product includes making sure my product can be produced. If it is stopping you from your supplying work, I’ll count it as an exception.  
But let me be **clear**.”

The tone was serious and even colder as when he asked about Jason.  
“Anyone. **Anyone** who’s helping those savages out in the woods, will **face the consequences**.”

There was another shiver going down her spine.  
“Understood.” 

As if nothing ever happened, the smile came back.  
“But please, continue. This does sound like something I could be interested in.” 

Liz swallowed. 

“Well, you said it yourself. We’re all here to make it back.  
There is only one thing that i **really** want more than anything else.  
I want to be my own person again.  
So, while I am at it, I would like to purchase myself from you. I would like to propose-”

Liz was taking a deep breath with her eyes closed.  
Opening them back up, Volker looked, just for a second, like a child on christmas eve getting handed the first present.  
Which was only mildly disturbing.

“Instead of the 60/40 and 25/75 split you originally wanted.-”  
Liz was gesticulating with her hands between them, asserting the numbers to the representing person. 

“Let’s make it **90/10** for now, and a clean **50/50** for everything sold in the north.”  
She gave a small gesture to the bags of Firefly.  
“And also, whatever I would get for this today, if anything at all, I would like to leave to you as a first down payment, so to speak.”

Silence.  
You could hear a pin drop.  
There was legit shock in front of her. 

“And.. for whenever you see it fit as the bill for myself paid, we can go to the 60/40 until you feel like my abilities are enough for more. But I would like to keep the 50/50, just to prevent accidental miscalculations on my part.”

He wasn’t even blinking..

Did.. did she go too far?  
She didn’t really need the money that bad and she’d rather work a certain amount of time like this, making sure she wasn’t going to end up a slave one day.

Was he ok?  
It’s been like.. 5 seconds.  
Oh god..  
Did she give Hoyt Volker a heart attack?

Liz shrunk in her chair again.

“I.. just really want myself back.. I thought, after all this time I might be out of that danger, but if you say I am not.. I want to get out of it as soon as possible.  
And it seems like this is the only way I can do it.. Is that- Is that possible? Can I do that?  
Would that be ok for you?” 

He probably never had someone ask to buy themselves.  
Well, maybe some rich captives..  
But not by someone he just told would be getting paid less than what was usual. 

After a good 10 seconds, Volker seemed to shake himself out of, what ever the fuck just happened.  
He had a **very** happy look on his face.

“Well, in that case.”  
He was thinking for a moment, taking another drag of the cigar.  
“That changes a few things.”

Another short moment went by, before he slowly began to nod and put his cigar on the ashtray.  
“Yeah. I can see that happening. Fine. Deal.” 

He held his right hand over the desk.  
“One year with these terms. If you’re useful afterwards, I’ll consider my payment received and my product paid for. After that we go back to the 60/40 until you’re as reliable as the good Doctor.”

It didn’t take her a second to think about it.  
He just passed her offer.  
Sure, the amount of money she was going to make him was surely more, than what he was thinking of selling her for, but if it meant freedom?

So Liz shook the hand of the devil with a smile.  
_The deal was made._

The grip got near painfully strong at one point, making her smile falter, as Volker was giving her a stern look.  
“But if you ever cross me, you go to the highest bidder.”  
“Message received.”

The hand let go of her again. 

“This was quite something. Wasn’t expecting to hire someone new today.”  
Just the sheer glee coming from across the table was.. so weird.  
“What a great day. You’ll make a good addition in the future, I can tell.” 

One of the cigars was taken from the box.  
“Join me for a celebratory cohiba.”

It took her a good second or two of just staring back and forth between the big smile and the offered cigar, until Liz put her hand in her neck, playing with her hair a bit.

“I.. uhm..well. I don’t smoke. Sorry. But thanks for the offer.”  
Her apologetic smile was met with another chuckle.

“You are scared of cancer?”  
He put the cigar back in the box, laughing a bit more.  
“That is good shit. Cancer won't be what kills you.”  
Well, he wasn’t wrong about that..  
It was more likely to be murdered.

“Not really... I really just dislike the taste in general.”  
As a reaction, she just got an accepting ‘Mhm’, as Volker took a few drags of his cigar, while rocking in his chair from side to side.  
He seemed to think for a moment, before he got up and walked around the desk.  
leaning against the edge with his back and hands.

“So. Hobbies. Cooking, Painting, Movies, **Crystal Meth**. What are yours?”  
Her Hobbies?  
Also.. Meth? Seriously?  
This man was just bouncing from one topic of conversation to the next.  
She just made a deal with the devil and now he wanted to know her hobbies?

“Archery, like I mentioned earlier. Also fishing, swimming.. But I guess it all comes down to tinkering. I mean, I did make a bunch of gadgets for my bow, like turning it into a fishing rod. It’s kind of like a swiss army knife, by now. I like to build little mechanisms to improve life.. Or just random stuff for fun.” 

“Hm. I am a fan of improvement and progress myself.”  
Volker nodded in agreement.

“Globalisation, as an example. It’s the future! Bringing things from far away, to me!”  
Liz watched him get back up and walk around his office. 

“Look at American industry.”  
He was leaning over his desk now, supporting his upper body with his elbows, while the hand still gesticulated. 

“They put a 123 on a contact lense.”  
While one hand was pulling down the eyelid, the other acted as if there was a contact lense on his finger.  
“So when I place it in my eye, I can tell whether it’s inside out. Why 123 and not ABC?” 

“Not everyone uses Latin letters.”  
“Exactly! That way they can export it around the globe and straight to me! And guess what happens when I am wearing it?”

“You don’t see the numbers?”  
Her answer caused the man to laugh.  
“Isn’t that fucking amazing?”

Volker continued tapping his desk with his finger, punctuating his words.  
“That is progress right there! That is civilization! We are at the heart of it, right here.”

It was so weird seeing this man get so enthusiastic over the topic, until he pushed himself off the table with his arms spread wide.

“This is a global enterprise! I ensure our slaves come from ‘round the globe. And just like that little contact lense, my product is universal.” 

The speech ended with him standing straight at the other side of the desk, looking down to her. 

“Now. I think there has been enough work done for today. I am looking forward to hearing from your progress.”  
Those words were like medicine for her ears.  
“I am expecting guests.” 

For a moment Volkers arm disappeared under the table.  
It looked a bit, like he pressed some kind of button.  
Liz didn’t even get time to be nervous about it, before she got calmed down immediately.  
“Just letting Sam know we’re done here.”

**Thank fuck.**  
He was ending their conversation.  
It was time to get back home.  
Liz had so much to process.  
She was **drained**.  
Emotionally and mentally.

Volker just looked at her and once more, while making his way around the table.  
“I want you to come and join us.”  
What.

To her surprised and confused state came a mild panic, when Volker grinned like a child, expressing his joy.  
He clapped his hands together, rubbing them in anticipation.

“Pokernight!” 

A bit dumbfounded, Liz tried to find her words.  
He was inviting her to play Poker?  
With him and his guests?  
What?  
Why?  
How?

“Don’t say no. I insist. Chips are on me tonight! Sam’s going to fly you all back later, anyway.”

Armed with the bottle of whisky, that had been on the table, and a glass, her new employer walked past Liz, to a round table, that she hadn’t noticed until now.  
In a bit of an awkward silence, she got up and turned around properly to look at it.

4 chairs and a pile of poker chips for each seat.  
Volker had taken his place in the chair that had the door in its back, therefore facing her.  
He was motioning her to sit in the one across from him.  
So.. she sat down. 

“Can I offer you anything? Some food, a drink perhaps?”  
Where did this kind tone and hospitality come from all of a sudden?

“Uhm, no, thank you. I am good.”  
If Liz was to consume anything right now, she’d probably puke immediately.

Volker just nodded at her.  
“If you change your mind, let me know.”

They sat in silence for a few seconds, while the glass of her host was being filled with the amber liquid until Liz gathered the courage to speak up again.

“This is all very nice of you. Inviting me to play and such… There is just one problem.”  
Her new Boss looked at her with a smile, as if he already knew what she was going to say.

“I don’t know how to play poker.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Liz finally made her deal.  
> Sometimes you just have to make an offer no one can refuse, to save your ass. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed it!   
> Thank you so much for reading!  
> This Fic helped me through a lot this year and oh my god reading those comments literally made my day so many times.  
> I am not even joking!   
> For many of them, i just got out of bed when i saw them and i literally went into the day with so much motivation. 
> 
> I wish all of you a happy Christmas, happy holidays and how we say over here where i live:  
> An gut'n Rutsch ins neue Jahr! (A good slide into the new year!)


	29. Pokernight!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how, but i actually managed to finish another over 10.000 word chapter.  
> Sit back, relax and i hope you like it!

_”It’s out of fucking **love**.”_

Ugh.. 

The blade's edge carefully scraped over skin, led by a steady hand.

Why the fuck did he say that?  
It was so fucking stupid.  
The moment those words left his mouth, he knew it was a mistake, but it had been too late to stop himself. 

Ice cold water hit the face, washing away the remaining sleep and shaving cream. 

Wasn’t he smart enough to know not to fucking utter that shitty word so fast?  
Didn’t he learn from the movies?  
You drop that shit too soon, you get into trouble.  
The entire situation hadn’t even been that good of a moment!  
He was teaching her an important lesson, to make sure she was prepared.  
What did he do instead?  
He went on a full fucking journey confessing his love in all it’s poetic glory. 

The last grain of sand fell through the 3 minute hourglass, followed by the white foam that was being spat into the sink.

For fucks sake, not only, didn’t she confess back, she never even fucking adressed it afterwards!  
Did she even listen to him? He told her to fucking listen!  
All she seemed to care about was his fucking pistol.  
He said everything was ok, but she didn’t give a shit about his opinion.  
She was dead set that he would kill her.  
As if he would actually do it..  
The only thing that warmed his heart was how she shot forward to get the gun away from his head. 

Vaas was staring into the mirror, watching himself floss.

The air around them had been so fucking awkward afterwards!  
Sure they had made conversation and Vaas had felt so special and just.. taken care of, when she had actually made food for him.  
But after that?  
She just left as fast she could. 

Goatee trimmed, unneeded fuzz shaved, teeth clean, hair done.  
He was looking good and feeling...

Vaas couldn’t stop the heavy sigh leaving his mouth, as he stared at himself.  
He was not feeling well.

This entire situation didn’t give him any rest.  
Ever since she left the greenhouse there was this loneliness clawing at him again, threatening to rip him into pieces.

At least his sleep had improved, to the point of only having to deal with the heartbreaking emptiness and cold next to him, instead of nightmares.

Still, ever since that first hug, he wanted more.  
Just to be close again. Holding onto each other.  
It had felt so nice…  
Every movement, every piece of skin contact.  
Like heaven.  
Vaas was craving touch. 

God..  
It’s been what? 3 Weeks? A month? More? Since he last got laid?  
And the last time wasn't even that good..  
This shit was starting to mess with him.  
Suddenly nearly every stipper dancing around his compound was getting him bothered.  
Not _hard on_ -bothered but enough that he couldn’t risk it to stop and watch for too long.

**Fuck.**  
Aside from a few exceptions, like his stay at the mansion, Vaas never went more than 5 days without some company.  
And that was in times when he was stressed out a lot and just plain didn’t have the time to fuck a bitch. 

Also, why should he?  
This was his kingdom, his paradise...  
He had everything. Money, power, drugs and pussy.  
He could get as much of everything as he wanted. 

When was the last time he had to wait like this?  
How many years ago?  
Let alone for someone he actually gave a fuck about..

This whole dating stuff took way longer than he expected.  
They weren’t even close to where he wanted them to be.  
And they weren’t getting any closer with the mere babystepps that they were making.

In the beginning he didn’t care about it.  
Vaas just wanted her close and dear and for her to really care about him, but by now.. well he was just a guy, Ok? 

Fucking hell.  
All he could do right now was hold hands, hug and give her a smooch on the forehead.  
Not only that but they weren’t even seeing each other anywhere close as much as he wanted.  
Their date had been a week ago!

But luckily, Vaas had a plan.

After all, Liz said after her testrun she would gladly spend time with him more often.  
She really enjoyed their time at the cliff?  
She liked beaches?  
And swimming?  
Well just wait, till Vaas brought her to that secret spot he had remembered the other day.  
Getting there on foot would require a bit of climbing, but Vaas would gladly take the lead and catch her fall, if something went wrong.

It was a small beach at the southern side of his island, near the broken neck.  
Well it wasn’t a beach per say, more a cliffside.  
The water around the cliff was shallow, varying from ankle to knee deep, with lots of small and bigger rocks scattered about, breaking through the surface.  
It honestly just looked like any other cliff, when you drove past it with the patrol boats.  
But it hid a treasure. 

The cliff had a bit of a ledge to it and under it there was a small coral reef.  
It was sheltered from any outside view by the rocks in the vicinity.  
At the point furthest under the ledge was a hole in the ground. 

It was oval shaped and about 13feet across (4m).  
Like a really big natural tub, if you wanted to call it that.  
It had a few deep spots where he couldn’t stand, but at the edges the water was shallow enough to sit in. 

The first time he was watching her glide through the water, Vaas didn’t appreciate it enough.  
So why not go swimming together?  
Enjoy the scenery.  
Both the reef and her. 

After all, just imagining how she was going to look for him..  
Last time she didn’t wear any swimwear, but that was because Vaas had her stuff.  
He saw what he would guess to be her normal swimwear in the Backpack.  
It wasn’t as revealing as he would like, but it was good enough for now.

A small smirk formed on his lips, as he was tying his boots.  
How was she going to react once he got his stuff off and jumped in with her?  
The blush and the looks he got inside the greenhouse had already been enticing.  
Vaas was still mad he missed most of it.  
Not this time though. 

As for the reef itself: It was stunning. Even he had to admit that.  
There was no real way for Sharks or other predators to find this patch. Only smaller fish could swim between the big rocks during the tide.  
The corals were colorful, just like the fish. 

They could either look at the reef, swim a little bit or just sit together in the shallower parts, talking.  
There was still so much he wanted to find out about her.  
He’d make sure to have some easy snacks there, just in case, but if she wanted fish, there would also be a small stack of wood prepared. 

And of course:  
Vaas would time everything with late evening and sunset.  
The reef was facing the west side, so they would get the evening sun, painting the area orange. 

That would be romantic as fuck!  
That’s what women were into, right?  
Super romantic shit, like from the movies.

There was no way he wasn’t getting **at least** a kiss out of this.  
He never thought of something like this, but somehow making out in a hidden reef sounded fucking hot.  
Not to mention all the bare skin contact..

They could make out in the water.  
A mess of lips, tongues and teeth.  
He’d have an arm around her back, pressing her against him, keeping them both afloat, while she would be clinging onto him by neck and shoulder.  
He’d lift her onto the water's edge.  
She’d be looking at him, breathing heavy, lips red and plump, waiting for him, reaching for him to come closer again, begging for him to fu-.  
**_No, no, no, no, no, no, NO!_**

There was another hit of cold water splashing into his face.  
**_Stop thinking about it._**  
Two more cold splashes.  
God fucking damn it!  
Vaas had shit to do today and didn’t have time to deal with this kind of problem right now!

Once he was dressed and ready, it was time to start the day.  
Making his way down the metal stairs, he composed his mental ToDo-List.  
Today Vaas had to: 

\- Take care of his newly replanted garden over in Tequila Sunrise.  
\- Do a control-visit to the big Marihuana fields south of Tequila Sunrise, by the fishing village and see how the replanting was going along.  
\- Go a bit further south to the broken Neck and set up his little surprise.  
\- Get back to his fortress and welcome his new men that should arrive today.  
\- Grab the two biggest gossip bitches of his men.  
\- Go to pick up his big delivery that he had been told to order from Earnhardt.  
\- Play a little, but not too much, with his love.  
\- Set a clear boundary, that these two idiots would spread like a wildfire between his men.  
\- Bring the shit home.  
\- Wait a bit. Till about an hour before sunset.  
\- Get back to the Mansion.  
\- Grab her and show her his little surprise.  
\- Get a kiss, maybe even laid. _Unlikely, but a man can dream._  
\- Get her back home. If he can, his home. _Just as unlikely, but still worth a try._  
\- Sleep.

Today was going to be great!  
And his breakfast already proved it.

Vaas was still eating, when his men reported back that they had successfully taken back the outpost Jason took over a week ago, in a nightly surprise attack.  
They had killed a good 10 Rakyat warriors. Two of which had a face tatau, meaning high ranking warriors.  
At least if Citra didn’t change that rule as well.

Not even an hour later, a group of rich idiots and their private yacht came into his possession.  
That had been the first time, his plans for the day changed.  
Now instead of waiting for sunset, he was going for a short ride over to Hoyt. 

This was perfect.  
Hoyt had been calling him a **lot** lately. More than usual.  
They were, near all, just check ups on how work went. 

He was losing Hoyts trust.  
The entire situation with Jason went completely out of control and he even managed to get most of his friends back.  
He caused chaos, slowed business, burned his fields and killed his men. 

Vaas had lost 4 expensive captives in the span of a few weeks, not to mention the money for the other damages.  
Jason, his rich friend Oliver and the two girls were running around **somewhere** on his island.  
All because he let that chickenfuck run, for a game of chase. 

This yacht came like a godsent.  
If Hoyt loved something, it was making sure people knew he was in charge.  
He was the puppeteer, the one with the dick and everyone was better fucking bedning over for him.  
Metaphorically speaking. 

Vaas was going to acknowledge his mistakes and apologise for his lack of focus by, instead of selling, gifting Hoyt the entire yacht and it’s people. 

Most of the money made from ransom, drugs and selling slaves went directly to Hoyt.  
It was the rule after all.  
Still, Vaas personal cut and the money to pay his men was a huge chunk.  
So a gift of 21 rich ass people, with rich ass families, 7 more crew members, a nice yacht and the opportunity to let his power show in negotiations with the customers, should put Vaas back into the man's favor.  
At least for now.. 

Everything went as planned.  
He had some fun in the garden, his fields were growing, his surprise was prepared and the new men put in place.  
All perfect. 

Until he was at the mansion with his men and his queen wasn’t there. 

Not only wasn’t she there, but when the Doc led them into the greenhouse, for their products, there were 3 bags on the table.  
3 bags, that the old fuck had told them _were for Hoyt_.

No one had fucking came to pick that shit up yet?  
Also her shit wasn’t picked up yet and she wasn’t even here?  
Vaas had waited all day to come here and she wasn’t even free to go yet? 

Things just went downhill from there. 

First she showed up with no other than Buck, that fucking cocksucker.  
**Literally.**  
Then this motherfucker stole her moment to shine in front of his men, by interfering with Vaas little show. 

What hurt the most, was she fucking **flinched** whenever Vaas moved.  
His queen then had started panicking and stopped breathing again, as soon as the gun was mounted.  
Sure, he wanted to paint the picture of not knowing her to his men, but god damn it, he knew this wasn’t played on her part.  
It really hurt his feelings. 

It felt like she was preferring Buck’s presence over his.  
Like she trusted that asshole more than him.  
What the fuck!  
They looked **a lot** closer, then they should be!

And before Vaas could do anything to make sure she wasn’t going to fall over from a lack of oxygen and therefore completely mess up the play he had prepared, Hoyt called. 

**And Buck fucking knew why.**  
That was the second bad sign of the day.

So now he was invited to a round of poker.  
Not only did that ruin his plans for the evening, it also formed a stone in his gut.  
This call had given him a bad feeling.

Sure, Vaas played poker with Hoyt on a regular basis.  
They usually met up once a month, except if something important came between or Hoyt had something he wanted to discuss earlier.  
It was usually just him, Hoyt, some of his closet men from the inner circle and maybe a customer or business partner from time to time.

It wasn’t time for their monthly game yet. 

Vaas was also to bring a certain captive with him, which was definitely going to be payment for Buck.  
That guy fell right into the category he was usually selling to the man.  
Which meant Hoyts favorite hitman was going to be there for the game too.  
Buck **never** joined them to play poker, unless Hoyt specifically requested it.

This. was. **bad**.

Vaas had taken the yacht with all his gifts to Hoyt’s compound.  
2 patrol boats as escort, just to make sure.  
He made the original crew drive the yacht, so it didn’t get damaged by accident.  
The river was nearly too small for it, but it was amazing what people could do, when held at gunpoint. 

The second Vaas had set a foot in the main building and shoved Buck his little toy over, the fuck started to play.  
Touching all the spots with all the commentary that nobody fucking needed.  
_‘Inspecting his stuff.’_

Did that mean he already got rid of Jason's friend he bought?  
What was his name? Keith?  
Well at least that meant one less to worry about.

What really made Vaas worry, was the fact that he was told to **wait**.  
The reason?  
Hoyt was **_busy_**.

The fact, that Buck was locking his little toy in a room and constantly looking at Vaas with this fucking _knowing_ smirk didn’t make it better.

She was here, wasn’t she?  
He could feel it in his gut. 

It was only logical.  
Buck had been at the mansion.  
He knew Hoyt would be calling, and why, and now he was here, getting paid and joining the game. 

As much as Vaas would love the downgrade, Buck wasn’t just a delivery boy who picked up drugs for their boss.  
That also meant that Hoyt specifically wanted his queen to be here.  
This could go south very, very fast and it might already be happening.

If Hoyt tasked Buck to bring her here, there was the question of how much Buck knew.  
Did he just know who she was and was making fun of Vaas losing a captive for 2 years?  
Or did he know about the deal.. If yes, how much did he know?  
**Or** the best case scenario, Buck was just happy, because he knew Vaas was in a bad position thanks to Snow White.

Hoyt was a man that wouldn’t give information to you, if he didn’t specifically wanted you to know about it.  
So maybe Buck really didn’t know about anything and Vaas was just being paranoid about the deal.

Back at their date, after talking to Carlos, Vaas had gotten a phone call.  
Hoyt.  
Because who else would call him in the middle of this?  
He had left the area for a moment, to make sure he could talk in peace.

When Vaas had gotten Hoyt the basic information the day before, he had also said that he would just do a testrun for fun, if it would be his call.  
After all, what did they have to lose?

Well, Hoyt had decided to follow his advice and flew all the way over to his island, just to find the mansion empty of her.  
_Well.. fuck._

Not wanting her to get into trouble, Vaas had been too big of an idiot at that moment and actually told Hoyt he had her with him.  
_“Thought i should find out more. The info the Doc. gave me was next to fucking nothing. Figured a few more details couldn’t hurt…”_.

God, that had gotten him into even more of a need to explain, because the Doctor had told Hoyt she was out gathering for him, so he was potentially messing with the Doctor's output.. 

Vaas had to call Hoyt back the next morning.  
That's when he told him everything about her.  
Looks, personality, her escape and work for the old fuck to this point. 

In his explanation, Vaas had left out a few things, like scaring his man who dropped the key, for obvious reasons.  
The other two lost captives.  
Not to protect her brothers or anything. They could fuck off for all he cared.  
Vaas did that for himself.

That detail probably would have gotten him killed.  
Hoyt was forgiving, but that could have been the final straw, given Vaas current position.  
Losing one captive and not noticing it? Sure, shit happens.  
But three and in the same night?

He also didn’t mention her Ink.  
There was **no way** Hoyt would let that slide.  
Vaas hated his family, but Hoyt _**hated**_ them.  
He didn’t talk about the Rakyat at all.

And, of course: Not a single word about the whole dating thing, left his mouth, for obvious reasons. 

Ok, well he did tell him that he was definitely interested.  
This two year runaway was enticing to him and he had some unfinished business with her, given the humiliation of running around on his island unnoticed for so long.  
He took that personally. 

It fit well with his boss, because Hoyt wasn’t too sure about trusting her with anything and the usefulness of it all.  
He never had a problem with Earnhardt and introducing someone else, could bring problems or give Earnhardt ideas of asking for more in return for his work.  
Earnhardt was cheap and very low maintenance and Hoyt would like to keep it that way.  
This girl better was worth it or else she would just be a liability and unneeded risk.

So they made a deal. 

If she was worth it, Hoyt would keep her around.  
That meant more profit in the future and also a possible replacement, if Earnhardt ever bit the dust. He was old after all.  
If she was not worth it, she was sold and Vaas had called dibs faster than ever.

_”Sounds to me like that pussy actually does have a brain. Seemed pretty smart. Pretty nice eyes too. I like it. If you don’t want her, I’ll take her. Haven’t kept a pet in a while... Let alone one i can play with, out in the jungle, without worrying about it breaking immediately.”_  
It had been the weirdest feeling he had had in years, but declaring his queen as _just another pussy_.. it just felt wrong.

As for the payment:  
Hoyt was taking a little bit of risk, by taking that product from someone new.  
So to make sure he didn’t lose any money, Vaas would pay whatever the delivery would be worth, instead of a normal price. 

Vaas had just forgotten to ask what Hoyt had ordered the day before.

That was why he was so mad back in the greenhouse once he heard it.  
Firefly was fucking exspensive and he might not be able to get that much cash ready in time.  
Not to mention: Hoyt could raise the price however he wanted.  
Well, worst case, he still had his gift that he could turn back into goods again.  
After all, Hoyt didn’t know about his apology bribe yet.

He didn’t want to accept it, but Vaas was scared.  
Terrified even.

When she left the greenhouse to talk to the Doctor two days ago, Vaas had called Hoyt to tell him about the weather problem.  
She may have just mentioned it in an off sentence, but fuck..  
Everything to make sure nothing bad was going to happen.  
That she had an excuse if something was wrong.

The more he thought about it, the more did that call make him suspicious.  
He was getting a pet if she failed. Why should he care so much about it?  
Maybe he could put it as part of his apology?  
Like a.. _”I am trying to do better and improve.”_ -type of thing?

God fucking damn it! 

Vaas had gotten himself into a very shitty position!  
If she was really here and, it was nearly guaranteed that Hoyt didn’t accept the delivery.  
Why else would he have called Vaas to get here?  
Sure the call came before Hoyt ever had the product, but what if he decided if it was just not worth it? 

If he didn’t want her to be working for him, this was going to be very, very bad.  
Not only was it going to be very expensive, but he also would be going home with a new toy for himself and by this point Vaas wasn’t sure, if he could talk himself out of the ‘why?’.  
Not to his boss.

_To her._

How the fuck was he going to explain that the entire testrun was his idea and that there had been a deal to buy her from the beginning?  
They had already established that Vaas was not going to cage her, but what else was this? 

Sure he could let her run around the island _’free’_.  
He could try and be like _”Don’t worry it’s just a cover up.”_ but she wouldn’t accept that, wouldn’t she? 

No.  
**He** wouldn’t be able to accept it. 

It wouldn’t be him winning over this woman anymore, his queen.  
There would be no queen to win anymore.  
It would only be him playing with his pet and nothing else.  
A trophy, at best.  
No matter the freedom he would give her, there would always be the bitter aftertaste. 

Everyone would know, because she would be marked too.

It was kind of a thing that Vaas had come to be known for.  
Every time he kept a slave for himself and only himself, no matter for what, he always did the same thing.  
He would cut and later burn his flag all over the back of his price.  
It was to make sure no one was touching his personal shit.  
The first step as soon as he got his toy and the second once he was home and had time.

He wasn’t going to lie.  
It was fun.  
He felt amazing doing these things.  
But right now, just imagining doing that to her?  
It made him sick.

That body was supposed to be perfect.  
The ink was bad enough, but this?  
That would ruin it completely.  
Vaas would feel it with every touch of her back.

He didn’t want to do it.  
But if he was about to buy her from Hoyt, she wouldn’t leave the building without his mark.  
It would be too suspicious.

Oh god..  
What did he get the both of them into?  
He hadn’t thought this through at all!  
He’d been worrying about Citra so much, he never spent a thought about Hoyt.  
This was a nightmare.

Vaas was pacing in the waiting room, playing with one of the 28 passports he had brought with him.  
He didn’t like how long it took. 

It’s been over 5 minutes since he was told to wait.  
Playing with the papers was giving him something to do and got his mind off pressing his ear against the wall to hope and catch some conversation.  
Not that he would ever do that, especially with Buck and the 3 privateers in the room.  
They all gave him nervous looks. 

None of them uttered a word, but Vaas knew exactly how they talked about him behind his back.

_”That’s the pirates psychotic leader.”  
“Fucking lunatic.”  
“Hoyt’s savage pet.”  
“Can’t believe that ‘thing’ outranks me/makes more money than me.”_  
And those were just the tip of the iceberg.

Well, at least they all knew their place and didn’t dare to say anything to his face.  
They were all beneath him.  
He could kill them all, if he wanted to. 

Or well, better not.. Hoyt would just get mad at him, because he would have to hire new ones.. like last time when he lost his calm.  
He got earfull after that. 

The second his eyes crossed that stupid grin on Bucks face, he had enough from the silence.  
“You got a fucking problem?”

Fucking asshole just chuckled at him.  
_He knew something._  
And whatever it was, it was too much. 

“Naw, Mate. Just like to watch the puppy pace.”  
_Puppy._

Ever since Buck was hired by Hoyt, this fucking aussi piece of shit had been calling him that.  
He had no power. No fucking power at all!  
He couldn’t command anyone here!  
Buck was just a fucking hitman that Hoyt kept stationed on Vaas’ island, for when he needed him.

Vaas would have put a bullet through his head **years** ago.  
The only thing stopping him was that Hoyt really liked Bucks work and the guy in general.  
He was also hired outside of the Privateers and as a personal hitman for Hoyt, so Vaas literally couldn’t do shit to this guy and it was eating on his nerves. 

They both knew this and Buck was making it a point to treat him like a child whenever Hoyt wasn’t around.  
If he would try to bring it up to their boss, Vaas would look ridiculous for complaining!  
And if that wouldn’t be enough, many of the Privateers knew about this shit he was pulling and were probably going to laugh their asses off later when Vaas was gone.  
So Vaas usually just avoided him.  
Let that cocksucker rot in his stupid shack outside of Bad Town.

Before anything could escalate between them, one of Hoyt’s circle members came in, telling them Hoyt was ready. 

With every step closer to the office, Vaas got more nervous. 

How was he going to act if the worst case happened?  
How was he going to talk to her?  
With what tone of voice?

Hoyt knew he liked that girl on a physical and personality level.  
He was _interested_ in a _for fun_ -way.  
Vaas had never said anything about the _emotional_ bullshit he was going through. 

All in all.  
Even if she made it, what then?

Hoyt would sooner or later figure out what was going on between them.  
He always found out if something was happening.  
How was Vaas going to explain that?  
Would it just be ok? 

The topic of relationships never came up and Hoyt himself always just switched out his little _”girlfriends”_ a.k.a. his gloryfied sexslave-dolls when they got on his nerves.  
It could go well, in a _”As long as you both do your fucking jobs.”_ -way ooor.. He could take it as Vaas getting too soft.  
It could end with Hoyt either getting rid of her or both of them.

Anyway..

Sooner or later he’d have to come clean.  
Just not right now.  
Vaas currently wasn’t in the position to ask for things and Liz was, even if things worked out, still a nobody and nothing to Hoyt. 

The office doors were wide open.  
“... tipp zweimal auf den Tisch. Wenn du aussteigen willst, wirf deine hand weg, verdeckt.”  
“Ok. Und fürs Geben wird durchgewechselt?”

**God fucking damn it.**  
She was here.  
Did things go well?  
_Fuuuuuuck_  
Just let everything be ok!  
Vaas had had so much bad luck lately, just fucking let it be on his side **one time**.  
“Ja. Pass also gut auf was die anderen tun. Du hast zwei Runden bis du dran bist mit geben.”

That was german, right?  
Why the fuck were they talking in german?  
He knew that voice.  
Who the fuck was she talking to?  
About what?

The second him, Buck and the 3 guards all led by one of Hoyts inner circle, got into the room, Hoyt threw a big smile at them.  
“Ah welcome boys! Come in, come in! Take a seat.”  
He was at his usual seat at the table and across from him…

Diamonds.  
It was like Vaas was looking directly into the sky.  
It took a great deal of control to focus out and _’just acknowledge’_ her presence with a nod before heading to his seat.

They had locked eyes and god damn it, she looked tired and nervous, uncomfortable and scared, but at least healthy.  
Next to his queen was, what was his name, Sam?  
The german guy from Hoyts inner circle.  
He was standing next to her, seemingly stopping mid conversation. 

After Vaas had sat down right of Hoyt, _yes, it was mostly for symbolism and he fucking loved it_ , Buck took the left one.  
Each of them had a guard somewhat behind them.  
Just like usual. 

It was always a guard for each player and two higher ups for Hoyt, to make sure no one was trying shit.  
Still, the guards kept enough distance to not be able and look into the cards.  
You can’t really play with someone breathing down your neck, after all. 

Vaas didn’t get felted for weapons, neither did Buck.  
Buck just put his stuff down in the room they waited in.  
Hoyt had boxes for people to lock their shit in.

It was a small victory, but, unlike that motherfucker, Vaas didn’t leave his shit behind.  
He was the only one sitting at the table with his pistol and knife still on his person.  
Aside from the hidden knife and pistol Hoyt had taped to the underside of the table, where he sat.  
You could never know when a business partner would try to cross you.

Hoyt knew that Vaas would never think of getting rid of him.  
Vaas had to take charge of everything once before, a good 6 years ago, because Hoyt had to _”take care of something serious”_ for 2 weeks and needed to go no contact.  
Sometimes Vaas was sure that that had been some kind of test.

It had fucking sucked. 

Leading his men here?  
Making sure everything was right on both the islands?  
Drugs, Ransom, preparation of product for selling?  
No fucking problem.  
What he couldn’t deal with was the rest.

Vaas wasn’t the kind of businessman that Hoyt was.  
All those rich assholes across the globe, acting as if they were the shit just cause they could buy slaves?  
Fucking hell, not one of them could survive a day on his island and Vaas was supoosed to take them seriously?  
Not to mention they hadn’t taken him seriously.  
Sure he’d only been 21 at that time, but come on!  
He was Hoyts right hand for a reason!  
Vaas could handle them, when they came here to pick their shit up, but that was it. 

So, Yeah..  
He had no interest in Hoyts position and they both knew it.  
Vaas got to rule the North and the North was enough for him.  
He got everything Hoyt had promised him from the very beginning and as long as they worked together, it would stay that way.  
As long as Hoyt was alive, Vaas was golden.  
After all, what would guarantee him, that things wouldn’t change, if Hoyt got replaced by someone else?

After the privateer responsible for his queen took his place, Sam gave her a pat on the shoulder, before taking his place as a guard behind Hoyt.  
“Viel Spaß und viel Glück.”  
“Ja.. Danke.”  
That was ‘yes’ right? And ‘Thank you’?

Whatever she said, it didn't sound very confident.  
He also wasn’t a fan of the small side look she gave her guard and the weird smile on that fuckers face.  
He made her uncomfortable and Vaas didn’t like it one bit.

“Ja~.” Hoyt was grinning like a madman, imitating and shuffling the cards. 

Well at least she followed his advice.  
Whatever frixiation it was that Hoyt had, he fucking loved that country.  
Still.. Vaas had no indication of how things went.  
Just because she was here at the table, didn’t mean she wasn’t on the market. 

“I don’t think i have to introduce our new player.”  
Hoyt was flashing both him and Buck a look, while the hand cards were dealt.  
Vaas was taking a sip from his whiskey, while making short eye contact with his queen.  
Her eyes moved towards the table a bit too fast for his taste, staring into the wood. 

“But I am sure tonight's rounds will be _interesting_. Or what would you say, **Doctor**?” 

**Fuck yes!**  
It was confirmed!  
Hoyt wouldn’t have called her that otherwise.  
It was a god damn mystery how the sheer amount of boulders falling from Vaas shoulders weren’t causing an earthquake.  
What made it even better, was the little frown he catched on her guards face. 

What wasn’t as good, was the weak smile that looked back to their boss.  
“I wouldn’t promise such things..”  
You could practically see the pressure and stress all over her.  
She didn’t want to be here and it showed. 

“Well, let’s find out.”  
The moment Hoyt looked into his cards, their poker night was officially a go.  
It was now that Vaas noticed the blinds had been pre-set.  
_How odd._

Hoyt was right.  
The first two rounds alone were just what he had promised.  
_Interesting._

Buck had raised.  
Liz had called.  
He himself raised.  
Hoyt had left the round as soon as it was his turn, throwing his hand away. 

Out of reflex Vaas had to quip with a disappointed sound.  
“I came all this way, Hoyt. And now you don’t even want to play with me?”

It caused a hearted laugh out of his boss.  
It was always a good idea to make Hoyt laugh and, luckily, Vaas was very good at it  
“The tortoise won the race, Vaas, not the hare.”

In the end both Buck and his queen stayed every turn with Vaas until the showdown, calling every raise.

On the table were:  
7 of clubs, King of diamonds, 10 of clubs, 8 of hearts and a Jack of spades.  
Buck had two pairs. With his 7 of hearts and the Jack of clubs.  
Liz had.. nothing. Like. **nothing**. Not even close to anything.  
3 of spades and 5 of hearts.  
Vaas had won the first round with Three-of-a-kind Kings. 

What was the most confusing, was she looked completely fine with what just happened.  
That pot was worth 450$.  
Sure it was only the first round and for everyone else in the room those were peanuts.  
Also this wasn't one of their monthly games and they weren't playing with the usual 50.000$ and instead had all gotten a little present from Hoyt in form of 5.000$ in chips, which had been unexpected, given Hoyt had told him during the call to bring the usual amount of chips.  
This still had to be quite a sum for her.. ok, well, if Hoyt accepted the delivery, she got paid a lot more than just 5.000$.  
He probably shouldn't judge.  
But something was still off about it.

Something similar happened the next round.

Buck dealt, she raised the tiniest amount possible, Vaas called, Hoyt raised, Buck fold, she and him stayed in.  
At least this time she had a pair of queens.  
Vaas had two pairs and they both lost against Hoyts straight. 

Still for the money bet, she stayed in with **just a pair** ?  
Hoyt got the pot and the cards went to her.

Buck seemed to be as confused as he was, but also pretty amused.  
Still, Vaas had to find out what she was planning.  
Did she want to be busted out as soon as possible?  
It definitely wouldn’t be a good idea, because Hoyt wasn’t a fan of people losing on purpose.  
It could get her into a lot of trouble.  
“What the fuck are you up to?”

Liz just picked up the cards and looked at him with a sigh and a smile, that told a story of discomfort and distress.  
“I have.. no idea.”  
She just shrugged at him.  
“I don’t even know why he just won that round. I’m just here for the ride. But hey, I still have a little bit of time to figure this all out and think I’m slowly getting what’s going on.” 

This woman was just full of surprises.  
Did Hoyt know she was clueless?  
Not only was she the first person Vaas ever met on Rook that didn’t know how to play Poker, but she just told him that with such a friendly tone.  
No sass, no anger, nothing.  
Just nice.  
Like she already accepted the fate of losing a bunch of money tonight and was really just in it for the ride.

But it wasn’t just that.  
Vaas had a hard time looking at her face, because the corner of his eyes had been caught by her hands.

While she had been looking at him, she held the cards with just her left hand at first and split them into 3 packages that switched positions.  
With just one of her small hands.  
How? What?  
It happened too fast to process.

After that, still without looking, and with ridiculous speed she started to shuffle the cards with both hands.  
And not just your normal one. 

It was this thing where the cards fell into each other.  
Something in his memory said a in the hand riffle shuffle with.. what was it called? Bridge finish?  
She did it four times, but didn’t stop there.  
She chained it into your normal overhand shuffle and straight into another riffle, without the cards ever touching the table.

Not only that, but the way she held the cards, you couldn’t see any of the cards faces.  
I didn’t take long either, just as she finished talking and before he even knew it, his cards were waiting for him. 

There was a short silence until his queen seemed to notice the surprised faces.  
“Oh.. uh sorry. Force of habit. Do you.. like, have a usual table shuffle that everyone does?”

Hoyt was smiling at her.  
“Not bad, kid. That was fast. Impressive” 

There was this adorable little shy smile on her face.  
“Well, I do play a lot of cards, just not Poker. I am more of a Durak, Mau-mau and Schafkopf kind of person. You know, everything you can play with a Bavarian-deck.”  
He never heard of those games or the card deck, but there was this sudden urge to learn.

This time Liz was the first one to fold after Buck raised the bet by over 100$.  
“Made that mistake twice now. No, thank you.” 

It was weird to raise that much, before they even saw the Flop.  
Something told him he was bluffing.  
But even if not, he was prepared.

Vaas was feeling kind of giddy this round.  
How nice of her to give him the ace of hearts and the ace of spades for his hand. 

He and Hoyt both stayed in and it was a delight to watch her handle the cards for the flop.  
It was so graceful.  
What else could she do with those hands?  
_No, no, no. Not the time._

He did catch her waiting for a small nod from Sam, before she laid the cards out.  
Well, Vaas had to admit that guy was pretty good himself. Cost him a few thousands already.  
Maybe that was what they talked about earlier?  
Like a mini crash course?  
No time to be upset for her silently asking someone else for help though.  
After all, she was a gift that kept on giving. 

7 of hearts, Ace of diamonds, King of hearts.

He already had three of a kind Ace’s.  
Depending on the next two cards he might even get a Flush.  
This was going well and given that the rookie was out of the game right now, it was time for a few higher bets.  
Manly because, if Vaas wanted one thing from this game, it was to bust Buck out. 

The other two backed out after the River, when he raised another good 200$.  
Easy pot for him.

While Vaas shuffled the cards, a lot less spectacular than his bride, Hoyt lit himself a cigar and told the man behind Lisa to play some music.  
It was odd that he didn’t send one of his two guards over at first.  
Then you could practically feel the relief emanating from Lisa, when the guy left her to take care of the gramophone.

There was clearly some form of tension.  
If she was rather ok talking to Sam or the way she talked with Hoyt, there was no way she was this nervous with some noname privateer. 

While everyone was looking at their hands, 4 of heats and Jack of diamonds for him, the first tunes reached them and Vaas nearly groaned out loud.  
Of- ** _fucking_** -course.  
_Ride of the Valkyries._  
What else.  
It was Hoyts answer to everything. 

Need to fly somewhere with a helicopter?  
Ride of the Valkyries.  
Bored at the silence around the table?  
Ride of the Valkyries.  
Need to put a background track to your explanation and speech?  
Ride of the Valkyries.  
Want to blow shit up?  
Ride of the **fucking** Valkyries!

It wasn’t so much the song or giving yourself a dope soundtrack, Vaas was all for that.  
Whatever floated Hoyts boat.  
It was about the fact that it was played at least once every day. Sometimes up to 10 times.  
Thank fuck Vaas was far away on his island and didn’t have to hear it that often.

He dealt the Flop.  
5 of spades, 7 of hearts, 3 of clubs.

“Ran tanta ta ta~” The oldest at their table had the time of his life, it seemed, humming and raising for a good 100$.  
“I prefer the european recordings! The cross sections in american orchestra are too bombastic.”  
Funny enough, for just a short moment, their new doctor had a genuine smile on her face, as a reaction to Hoyts outcall.  
Did she like this shit too?

Or was it because of her cards?  
Instead of just calling, she just raised for another 50$, after Buck folded, and then gave her cards another look after the fact again, with this spark in her eyes.  
Well, Vaas was going to call this.

She obviously had _something_ and he might as well stay in till the Turn or even the River and see her reaction.  
He was on his way to have a Straight and if it didn't get to it, he might as well just push the pot a little bit.  
Would be a shame, if she lost that hard earned money so fast.  
Their boss also called and Vaas dealt the Turn. 

7 of spades.

Hoyt raised with a laugh, leaving both of them a 100$ to call.  
“I can do this all day long.” 

This time, Liz took a bit.  
Her eyes were narrow and you could see all the cogs turn in there, as she went from staring at the cards on the table, to lifting her hand cards to look at them, to a controlling look over her chips.  
“I think I am going to.. ca-...raise.”  
Another 100$ 

_Oh she had **something**_.

200$ for him to call..  
She better fucking had something on her hand that could beat Hoyt.

“Call.”  
“I Call.”

The last card.  
6 of spades.

Hoyt had a curious smile on his face, tapping the table.  
“Checking.”  
Now this was interesting.  
Liz was sitting there, eyeing her chips, counting, before setting another 75$ on the table.  
“I’ll raise.” 

Well, it was on her now.  
Vaas pushed his hand cards away.  
“I’m out.” 

Either Hoyt folded or the cards decided.  
“Calling and I want to see.”

They both showed their cards.  
Hoyt had a 10 of spades and the King of spades.  
A flush.

Liz cards were a 7 of diamonds and a 3 of hearts.

Hoyt had a very happy smile on his face.  
“Would you look at that? First Full House of the night.” 

You could see the cogs turn in her head, staring down at the table.  
Just this clueless face was enough for Vaas to chuckle.  
“It means you win.”  
“Oh?” 

There was a fast look that went from him, to Hoyt, Sam and Buck, before she took another look at the cards.  
“Okay. I did not expect that to actually work.” 

It was a real delight to watch her stack the chips onto her pile, while Hoyt shuffled and dealt the cards. 

They played a few rounds without any major events, aside from Buck winning the pot 3 times in a row, but who the fuck cared about him?  
Then Ride of the Valkyries was over and the next song of classical music started.  
At first, it looked like Lisa was thinking and mouthing her thoughts, but after a while it became suspicious and Hoyt was the first to call her out.

Vaas would lie, if he said his heart didn’t skip a beat over the big embarrassed blush that made even her ears go red.  
“O-oh.. I uhm.. It’s the lyrics..”  
There hadn’t been a single word sung so far.

Hoyt didn’t look convinced.  
“I wasn’t aware that the serenade No.13 had lyrics.”  
Now it was she, who looked confused.  
“Serenade..? Isn’t this is Eine kleine Nachtmusik von Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.”  
Just the way she pronounced it, was completely different from what he expected. 

“It is. It’s more commonly known as serenade No.13. I still have never heard of any Lyrics.”  
There was a clear message in his words.  
Well, it looked like she accepted that challenge.  
Not exactly willingly, but you know?

Everyone watched Lisa lift her pointer finger for a good 5 seconds, listening with closed eyes, before she actually started to silently sing to the music, head still red like a tomato.

“Seht und hört, heut’ machen wir Musik.  
Seht und hört, ein ganz besond’res Stück.  
Hört nur die kleine Melodie,  
Die schöne Harmonie,  
Wir alle lieben sie,  
Mit ihrem-”  
The music played a few hectic notes that got higher.  
“Ja, die kleine Melodie,  
Mit ihrem Charme und Chic  
Ist uns're kleine Nachtmusik.”

Well, fuck.  
Vaas had heard her sing once before and it had been nice.  
She wasn’t some superstar voice or anything, but it was still clear and gentle and just nice to listen to. And god damn he would love to listen to for hours.  
Maybe not with this kind of music, though. 

Once she was done, Hoyt clapped a bit and kind of everyone joined in, just for the bit, which nearly made her head explode.  
God she looked like she would want to disappear into the void.  
It was just plain and simple adorable and Vaas had an itch to tease her more, but it probably wouldn’t work out well with everyone here.

Then Sam chimed in.  
“Now I remember. They teach that in school back in germany.”  
Hoyt seemed happy with that. 

The evening went by.. rather fast.  
They drank, smoked some cigars and had casual conversation.

While they all seemed to have a great time, his queen had been busy struggling with the game in silence and seemed to try and not pay attention to their words.  
It was funny to see her puzzled face, whenever a straight won.  
She just couldn’t figure that one out.

Still..  
Ever since the music bit, she hasn't spoken a word aside from _”Check, Call, Raise”_ or _“I’m out.”_.  
It was either embarrassment or the topics at hand. 

They talked about things like a certain customer coming to the island in a few days to look at the merchandise in person, before he bought anything.  
Hoyt was in negotiations with the king of a small country somewhere in the himalaya.  
Main topic Opium.  
And of course a few updates on the current ransoms waiting for payment.

One of which was rather interesting:  
A deeper background check of a pair of twin sisters, Hoyt currently held back from selling, revealed a filthy rich uncle that got most of his money through his late wife's gambling.  
The wife was killed after cheating in the wrong casino and messing with the wrong people.

Hoyt would ship those girls back to Vaas to record a new ransom video tailored for him. Painting a picture of the hostage situation being his wives fault, regarding gambling debts the wife took and her ‘stolen’ prize money. 

Hoyt also went to ask Buck if he was happy with his new toy, yada yada Vaas didn’t give a fuck.

During the entire time Lisa had never even once laughed at one of the jokes Vaas had sprinkled through the night.  
He gave her a few disapproving looks for it, but never called her out on the obviously missing humor.

It didn’t seem like she had time to let the jokes sink into her system between the obvious stress, confusion and discomfort that seemed to be growing by every minute.  
Vaas didn’t like it, but he also kind of didn’t want to include her in any of the conversation, because of it.  
All until the question came up on how the plantage regrowing was going.

“That is good to hear. Speaking of it, Lisa.”  
Her head snapped back up to the conversation, looking unsure.  
“As someone with lifelong experience in farming, I would like it, if you could take a look and see if there are ways to improve the fields.”  
“Uhm.. Ok? I can most certainly try. I’ll just have to read up on the exact plantlife and it’s requirements for care, ground, water etc.”

_Lifelong experience in farming._  
What did Hoyt know that he didn’t?  
Why the fuck did he get more information about her than he did?  
Vaas really had to sit down and find out more about her.  
First she chose Buck over him at the mansion and now Hoyt got to know more?  
What the fuck?! She was with **Him**!

Also was Hoyt implying, Vaas and his men were doing a shit job?  
He was doing this shit for years now!  
Vaas didn’t need anyone to make sure he and his men were doing things right.

“Perfect! If it hasn’t been clear: I expect the two of you to cooperate in that.”  
_Ahh~_  
Those words were like music.  
Enough to forget the mild anger in his system.

Vaas wasn’t one for cooperation, but this?  
This was basically another opportunity to spend more time with his angle.  
Hoyt seemed pleased with Vaas’ smile answering him.  
“Of course.”  
Lisa on the other hand, shrunk a bit, once Vaas moved his gaze to her with a smile.  
“Should be fun.”

Playing Poker with his queen turned out a lot more fun and challenging than he expected. 

The fun part was that her eyes constantly gave away what she was thinking.  
You could tell how good her hands were, just by her facial reactions for every card that was revealed on the table.  
Or more how good she **thought** her hands were. 

That was the hard part.  
What advantage did it give you to read her body language, when she had no idea what she was even doing?

He also caught her mouthing things to Sam, when no one was paying attention or just took it as her singing some unknown lyrics in her head again.  
Sam only ever gave small nods or shakes of his head as an answer, but you could see the difference it made in her behaviour. 

It was entertaining and everytime it didn’t come to a showdown with her, Vaas was burning to know what hand she actually had, just to understand what was going on in her head.  
From a few reactions, it seemed like she threw good hands away and then realized once she saw what the others had.

Watching her shuffle and deal was a pleasure in of itself.  
It was fast.  
It was graceful.  
It was precise.  
It was hard not to think of all the inappropriate things she could do to herself or others with these hands.  
With _others_ Vaas was referring to himself.

The few and far between times, she actually won the pot, felt like he was winning too, just by watching that happy little smile on her face while stacking the chips in her constantly shrinking pile.  
It was also sweet seeing her always grabbing across to her right to stack and bet the chips with her left hand.  
Why she didn’t move the pile to her left was a mystery.  
There was more than enough space between Vaas’ chips and her position for another pile.

One more small detail Vaas catched, everyone actually cause it was stupid, was a small moment, where she seemed to try and get something from her pockets.  
Every guard had made a move to grab their guns or at least put a hand on them more properly, same for Vaas, just to make sure the picture was correct.

She didn’t even seem to notice, in her haze and blank stare on the table.  
After half a second her hand was back empty and grabbed a chip to absently play with instead.  
What the fuck was that about?

It took Vaas a few more rounds until it clicked.

_The pebble._  
Back in the greenhouse, she gave him a pebble to play with as distraction.  
Was she looking for that?  
But she gave it to him.  
Actually, he still had it in his pocket.  
As much as Vaas wanted, he couldn’t give it back right now.  
At least the chip seemed to help a little bit with her stress, not much, but still better than nothing.  
Also seeing it wander through her hand and knuckles was just as good as the shuffling.

They'd been playing for a good 3 hours, when Hoyt called out the last round.  
The current leader board was.. just as expected.  
The turtle was winning the race.

Hoyt had gathered nearly half the table's chips. Sitting on a comfortable 9.450$

Vaas had made about 2 and a half K$ in plus as well. Sitting with 7.450$

Buck was having a bad evening, much to Vaas' joy.  
He did win regularly, but when he lost, he lost a lot and was currently sitting at 2.200$

And lastly: His queen was barely hanging on with 900$.  
Not a good amount to play a ‘last round’ with Hoyt, but she also could have been busted out by now. 

It was Vaas' turn to deal. 

To be honest, he hoped to give her bad cards, so she would fold.  
The last round usually got ugly.  
Big bets, higher rises and Vaas was sure there was a good chance pot could surpass 2.500$ before the Flop even happened.

You could see the confusion all over her face, when the blinds were suddenly 100$.

Looking at his cards, Vaas had a queen of spades and the 9 of spades.  
Not bad. 

Surprisingly, in the beginning it stayed rather humain for it being the last round.  
Hoyt had raised.  
Everyone called.  
Now, including blinds, everyone had already put 250$ in the pot.  
They were by 1.000$.  
A lot less than usual.  
Something told Vaas this was a setup.  
Hoyt had some form of a plan, didn’t he?

The Flop:  
King of hearts, 8 of spades and Jack of spades.

Oh? This could be a flush for him. One more spade and he was good.

Hoyt checked.  
Buck raised 200$  
Liz called, after a moment of hesitation.  
Vaas called and so did Hoyt.

The Turn:  
Jack of hearts.

Now was the moment Vaas had felt coming.  
Hoyt took one good look at Liz, smiled and pushed exactly 450$ towards the middle.  
He had that fucking stack to the side for a few rounds now, stacking it seemingly at random.  
Hoyt definitely aimed for this situation.  
“I’ll raise.” 

_Aw fuck._

“Fuck no, mate.”  
Buck threw his cards away faster than anything.  
Smart decision. 

Liz took a small glimpse at her cards and let her eyes wander over her chips.  
You could watch as the realization slowly hit.  
If she wanted to call, she had to go All-in. 

There was a long exhale, where she closed her eyes and let the chip in her hand climb up her knuckles till it was between her thumb and pointer finger.  
Everyone was looking at her and Vaas hoped she’d just fold.  
_Don’t do it._

His queen stared at the chip for a moment, biting her lip, before it joined the rest.  
“Well.. it **is** the last round. Might as well just..”  
With that all her chips went in the middle. 

God fucking damn it, woman!  
Hoyt always did this when he could.  
He would choose the person with the least amount and force them to either fold or call his bluff going All-in in the process.  
Unfortunately, everytime Vaas had tried to call Hoyt on that, Hoyt did win in the end.  
They really were playing till the house collects. 

Vaas just threw his hand away without another word.  
He was not going to call this.  
Hoyt obviously wanted a showdown between the two of them, so there was no reason to even risk his money.

Once it was only the two of them, both laid their cards open.  
Hoyt already had a full house with a King of diamonds and a Jack of clubs.  
And Lisa.. once again nothing.  
The 10 of hearts and the Ace of hearts.

It was usually a good hand, but she had nothing to support it..  
Even if the River was a Heart, she wouldn’t win against Hoyt’s full house.

This got a chain of reactions.  
Hoyt grinned, Sam sighed silently, Buck chuckled just like most of the guards.  
Vaas just looked at her chuckling in disbelief.  
“Are you fucking serious? You go All-in with **nothing**?” 

All he got as an answer was a shrug and Vaas nearly lost it.  
Sure she currently seemed like a skinny rubber band about to snap in half, but still.  
What was this play?  
Did she not give a flying fuck about her money?

Instead of saying anything further, Vaas proceeded to just deal the River, while looking at her.

Silence.

It took a moment till everyone reacted.  
The guard behind his queen had a hard time keeping his chin from the floor while looking as if he had seen a ghost.

His Nena herself just shrugged again with an accepting tone in her voice.  
“Yeah.. I don't know what I was hoping for.”

Buck was speechless, staring at the cards on the table.  
Sam had the biggest _Oh shit_ -grin on his face.

And Hoyt?  
He was looking down at the table, blinking a few times in disbelief, before he seemed pretty amused.

Vaas slowly turned his gaze down to see what he just dealt and couldn’t stop himself anymore. 

“No. **Fucking.** Way!”  
He bursted out laughing, leaning backwards into his chair, with a hand on his forehead.

**Queen of hearts.**

It took a short moment until Hoyt joined him, followed by nearly everyone. 

The only person who didn’t seem to get the joke, was her.  
Lisa just sat there, watching everyone else in the room either chuckle or full on laugh.  
At first she just seemed confused but then you could see her starting to shrink in her seat again.  
Did she think they were laughing about her? 

It took a bit for Vaas to contain his laughter far enough, so could he lean forward on the table, to look her right in the eye.  
“You fucking won!” 

“Hu?”  
There were question marks written all over her face until Sam seemed to help explain.  
“Er hat recht. Du hast gewonnen. Das ist die höchste Hand im Spiel. Du hast nen verdammten Royal Flush! Ich fass es nicht!” 

“Wait. **What?!** ”  
She stared at the cards in disbelief, before Vaas just went ahead and pushed the pot to her. 

The sheer amount of luck needed for this..  
If it had been any other card, **any other fucking card** , Hoyt would have won.

At this point Hoyt managed to contain his laughter.  
“Well played, kid. I did not see that one coming! What a finish!”

The good thing was, Hoyt was a fair player when it came to poker.  
It didn’t happen often, but if he lost a bunch of money, he lost a bunch of money.  
No hard feelings.  
You could see that Lisa still had no clue what the fuck just happened and it nearly made Vaas lose it again.

Before that could happen though, their boss got everyone’s attention with a single clap of his hands.  
“Now. This was a very fun evening, but business calls. Sam will fly you all back in just a moment.” 

Right. The fun was over.  
Vaas took a deep last drag from his cigar.  
He still had to have his little talk with Hoyt.

“Well, been a fine pleasure.”  
Buck packed up his chips and left. 

Liz was still staring at the table, but now her eyes were on the empty space where Bucks chips had previously been.  
“Wha..?”

“Don’t forget your chips on the way out, Lisa.”  
As soon as Hoyt said those words, it was like a train hitting a sheep on the rails and she became white like a ghost.

Oh boy.  
Don’t tell him she didn’t even know they played witch real money?  
That explained a few things.

Luckily Sam walked up next to her, swiping the chips into a small bag, seemingly ripping her from that frozen state.  
She got up and knocked the table twice with her knuckles.

“Thanks.. for having me. This was.. something.”  
To be honest, she looked sick and extremely exhausted by now.  
Still, she had only kind words.  
“Good night.”

After her and the remaining guards were out and the doors closed, Hoyt got up and walked over to his desk to sit down in his chair.

“Now. How about we discuss the future of our little _agreement_?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was time for another Vaas Chapter. God damn i missed that guy in the last few chapters.  
> Also it was time for finally some horny Vaas.
> 
> This one.. oh boy.  
> The definition of information gathering..  
> I watched about 5 hours of shuffle videos, before dumping the entire thought of describing Liz shuffling in detail, played about 3 hours worth of far cry 3 Poker and read multiple guides and rules..  
> I don't even like playing Poker!  
> But man i definetly know how now.  
> :D  
> Why am i doing these things?  
> Btw if anyone wants to know how Liz shuffled:  
> Go to 7:45 :)  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW7yBYBN6hs
> 
> I hope you all liked it!  
> (And that the ending wasn't tooo mary sue. I just wanted a kicker for the end.)


	30. A long way home.

“I won’t lie to you, Vaas. I am impressed. You brought me a little gem.” 

Those words were music to his ears.  
Vaas was smiling into his glass of whisky, before downing the last bit of the amber liquid.  
He got up to pack his shit and walked over to Hoyt’s desk.

Hoyt was sitting in his Boss-man-chair, leaning back and swaying from side to side.  
A good sign. He usually did that, when he was in a good mood.

“Well-”  
“You seemed pretty eager for this to work out. A bit too eager for my taste.”  
The smile on Vaas' face disappeared.  
Oh shit.

“It looks a lot like you are way happier with this outcome of our deal. Given the stakes at hand, I wonder why?”  
He was not a fan of Hoyt's expression.  
The smile was calculating, judging and caused a pit in Vaas stomach.  
“Care to explain yourself?”

God fucking damn it..  
Ok relax.  
Vaas knew this was coming.  
He had made himself look extremely suspicious. 

If things didn’t work out, Vaas would have gotten himself a new toy, that he already said he wanted.  
But with everything he did since the deal, he made it pretty obvious he was a bigger fan of her succeeding this test.

This was a prime opportunity to come clean and confess.  
But doing so now, seemed like a horrible idea.  
Not only would Lisa and his emotions for her definitely be viewed as a distraction in Hoyt’s eyes, but it also meant that Vaas would have misused his position and Hoyts trust in him to slither someone into Hoyt’s employment by shedding a different light on her than what she would usually have.

Hoyt wasn’t exactly one to hire people like her.  
Fragile, beautiful, empathetic,... female.  
It screamed for problems down the line and to think Vaas tried to manipulate Hoyt’s opinion and it came out to him...  
Hoyt would get rid of her immediately like this. 

Sitting down in the shitty metal chair, Vaas let his hand rub across his face, before looking back to Hoyt.  
He had to go through this fucking humiliation anyway, so fuck it.  
“Things don’t go my way lately and I’m fucking sick of it. Didn’t want to have another thing fail on me.”

Vaas hated this.  
He hated it so much.  
He hated how his own voice changed whenever he talked to Hoyt like this.  
Vaas wasn’t timid.  
He wasn’t someone who gave in to others.  
He wasn’t one to bow down.  
And yet.. He sounded like a child having to explain himself. 

Hoyt looked pretty satisfied over Vaas’ tone and posture.  
He knew too how much Vaas hated being in this position.  
Having to keep his voice down, put thought into his words and have to talk up instead of down to someone.  
Powerless and humiliated.  
Just another puppet in Hoyt’s game.

But this was the only way he could be who he wanted to be, get what he wanted to get and live how he wanted to live.  
Just make it through this shit every now and then and for the rest of the time, he was king over them all.  
So he had to push through.  
Vaas had messed up.  
He deserved this.

“Interesting. So was this just an easy success or do you actually think the girl is worth the trouble?”  
_Oh for fucks sake._  
He was making it worse, wasn’t he?

“Yes, I do. Earnhardt is relying extremely on that girl.  
From what I understand, he gets everything he needs from the island over her and I get why.  
Old fuck would probably be eaten alive out in the jungle.  
That girl has been doing this delivery shit for quite a while now.  
I went ahead and followed her for a bit, unnoticed.  
She definitely knows her shit, when it comes to the jungle.  
I am not just going to pull this shit out of my ass and try to sell you an idea, if I have nothing to base it on.  
You know me better than that.”

The eye contact with Hoyt was heavy.  
The way Hoyts office chair and the metal chair across his desk were positioned made it so that Vaas still had to slightly look upwards to meet his eyes.  
Hoyt had it that way on purpose.  
It was another way to symbolize his authority.  
Hoyt overlooked everyone. 

“The point is: If she was able to survive up to this point-”  
Vaas was gritting his teeth in annoyance for the next part.  
“and somehow avoid being ever noticed for two years,”

If he was already at it, it wouldn hurt to let Hoyt know that this little fact bothered Vaas **a lot** , before continuing to speak normal. 

“-we at least know she isn’t as fragile as the Doc.  
I don’t think anything, but letting that old man do this would be smart.  
Who knows how long till he bites the dust and then we at least have someone who knows how to do his job.”

“Well, we agree on that. And while this is surprisingly high quality,-”  
Hoyt patted a stack of plastic bags on his table, before looking past Vaas over to the TV.  
Looking back, the screen showed one of the rooms downstairs. 

His queen was gearing back up with Sam watching her closely.  
The sound was muted, but they seemed to talk.  
It made his blood boil with envy.  
Who the fuck did Sam think he was?

Yet his eyes wandered back to her.  
You could see the difference to when she was in the office.  
While she still looked pretty much on her last leg, there was a far more comfortable look to her face. 

Nothing close to where Vaas would love to see her expression, but a lot better.  
It was the way she looked at her bow and knife, when they were picked up, that nearly made his heart skip a beat.  
She was looking at her weapons like they were friends long believed lost being reunited.

**_Fuck._**  
How would it look like, if she took someone apart with that knife?  
Covered in the blood of a poor idiot she killed for him, with the dripping knife in her hand.  
God that would be so fucking ho-.

“-I still wouldn’t trust our new Doctor too soon. This all seems a bit too good and easy for my liking.”  
Vaas threw a glance over to Hoyt, who was still looking at the TV with a stern expression.  
He took it as a sign that he should also keep watching.

With all her gear on her, she started taking little things off the table and putting them in her pockets.  
The camera wasn’t zoomed in so he couldn’t make out everything in detail, but it looked a lot like a bunch of pebbles and.. seashells?

“We can't let ourselves be fooled by an innocent face.  
There are reasons why I usually prefer not to hire this kind of person.  
Women can be tricky if they’re kept unchecked.”

Wise words.  
Vaas had experienced that with Citra already, even though she was never really unchecked.  
She had always been watched and cradled and pampered.  
Citra had always gotten everything she asked for.  
Supported to a point where she could dump everyone she didn’t need anymore.

“That is why I want you to keep a close eye on that girl.”  
Vaas took his eyes off the monitor, when his Nena left the view of the camera.  
Hoyt was watching him closely making sure he was listening. 

“Having her with us might be a lucrative compromise for all involved, but if you notice anything suspicious, I want it to be investigated, thoroughly.”

Oh, Vaas would keep a close eye on her for sure.  
Still, he couldn’t imagine her trying to betray Hoyt.  
His queen had said it at the cliff. All of this apprentice-shit was meant as a failsafe, to keep her safe from Vaas just locking her up somewhere.  
Also she mentioned the need for supplies she couldn’t get anywhere else anymore, which Vaas was still unhappy about when she declined his help.  
Hoyt had also called her _”Doctor”_ , meaning she wasn’t seen as just Earnhardts apprentice.  
Having Hoyt employ her directly was the best thing that could have happened to her.

His boss leaned back once more with a smile on his face.  
“Still, our new doctor will make me a lot of money. Good job finding her.”

There was a playful scoff finding its way over the desk and Vaas tried to prepare himself for the verbal slap that was to follow.  
“Been a while, since i could say you did a good job, Vaas.”

Well, he wasn’t wrong.  
It still triggered a deep and defeated sigh from him.

“Yeah.. I know. About that.”  
Vaas nodded in agreement a few times, before pulling the passports and the keys for the yacht from his pockets and laying them out on the table.

There was a exspecting smile coming from his Boss.  
Both knew what was about to happen and Vaas let his shoulders fall in defeat.  
_Here we go._

“I want to apologize for how things are currently going.”  
Vaas watched as his boss picked up the first few passports, looking through the pictures and features of everyone.  
“How are things going?” 

“Not well.. I lost multiple expensive captives, the locals are fighting back more and I temporarily lost outposts and control, the fields got burned down, communications sabotaged multiple times, weapon deliveries stolen, lost a helicopter...”  
A swallow forced itself upon him.

“I.. nearly lost against Snow White. He nearly took me out.”  
God, it took him everything not to get mad.  
Vaas wanted to vomit out of hate and shame. 

“And while I am still here and we managed to get all the outposts back under control and the fields replanted, it doesn’t change that I cost us a lot of money and lost a lot of men in just a few weeks.” 

He lost so much in such a short timespan and it did horrible things to his pride.  
All because of Jason and his fucking bitch of a sister.  
But the worst had to be having to count it all out in front of Hoyt.  
Vaas wanted so bad to stare at the desk or anywhere else, but he knew exactly that Hoyt wanted him to look at him.

Hoyt was giving him a disappointed look over the edge of a passport.  
“And why is that?”  
“I underestimated Jason.”  
“And what do you plan to do now?”  
“I’ll bring you his head.” 

It was the only thing at this point that could really bring him back into Hoyts favor.  
Buying Hoyts love wasn’t something he could do for forever.  
Things had to change.  
Jason had to go.

“I have men out to locate him. Jason is hurt. Rumors say he got some lasting problems from our fight and isn’t seen anywhere alone anymore. I’ll find him and I’ll kill him. For good this time.”

It was a mystery to Vaas how Jason survived every attempt on his life up till now, but this time he had to make sure.  
Even if someone else killed him, Vaas wouldn’t pay the bounty until he had the body.  
He had to properly destroy Jason.  
Cut his heart out, take his head off and burn all the pieces in a barrel where he could watch.  
Something along those lines.  
Something to finally make sure he couldn’t come back. 

“Good.”  
Hoyt put the passports in his hands down and gave him a stern look.

“Now do I have to look through all of these or will you just tell me, which ones make you think, I’d accept this little apology of yours?”

Hoyt truly was the only person that could make Vaas feel small.  
It didn’t matter how high and mighty he felt.  
If Vaas was a king, Hoyt would be the metaphorical god looming over him.  
Vaas needed Hoyt and Hoyt loved Vaas for his ways and his work, but at the end of the day, Hoyt could replace him anytime.  
There was a time when Vaas had been sure he wasn’t going to bow down to anyone anymore, but Hoyt had taken the place and was now the new force over him. 

There was just one difference.  
Hoyt was better than the others before him.  
It wasn’t a constant _”Vaas, do this. Vaas, do that.”_ anymore.

Vaas could do whatever the fuck he wanted.  
He would get everything he wanted.  
He could be who he wanted to be.  
All he had to do was his job. 

Hoyt had a certain respect towards him that used to confuse the shit out of Vaas.  
He didn’t give him orders for everything.  
He trusted Vaas to know his shit and only gave orders or just a few nudges in the right direction, whenever he felt like it was really needed. 

“‘Course.”  
Vaas picked out 3 passports and held them up.  
They were red with a golden harp in the middle.  
Irish folk.  
Opening them up, Vaas slid them over to Hoyt explaining. 

“Father 37, filthy rich on a vacation with his 14 year old daughter and 6 year old son.”  
The approving nod of Hoyt was already a good sign, as he took a closer look at the passports.

Virgins, teenagers and kids in general were always good.  
Lots of people would pay big money for young slaves.  
Vaas couldn’t really see why.  
Virgins, sure, felt amazing to know you were the first to fuck that pussy, but children?  
They were just.. meh.  
Small, squirmish, fragile, loud and high maintenance.  
Also in general just not something he’d be into.

If he’d had to draw a line it would be at 17 or 16, but only if the girl was really, really hot and you couldn’t tell the age from just looking anymore.  
And even then only for a one time use, but that was it.  
Everything else in that regard just didn’t do it for him. 

But it didn’t have to do it for him, it had to do it for the customer.  
And luckily containing minors wasn’t the only good thing with his gift for Hoyt. 

“All three. Red hair, blue eyes.” 

Vaas still remembered the first time he had someone like this for Hoyt.  
His boss had been over the moon.  
Natural red hair combined with blue eyes was one of the rarest traits a human could have.  
It was seen worldwide as really attractive and therefore really expensive in the human trafficking business. 

3 of those plus the bonus of the two kids was a fuckton of money!  
And those were just 3 of 28 people. 

There were a total of 4 kids.  
To the Irish gold mine came:  
A 8 year old girl, white, blond, brown eyes, from Austria.  
A 7 Year old boy of color, black hair, brown eyes from spain.  
And another 6 year old boy, also of color, with light brown hair and blue eyes also from spain. 

2 Teenagers:  
The irish girl and her Boyfriend.  
16, white, brown hair, blue eyes, also irish. 

The rest of the vacation were all between 18 and 35, rich and pretty much all good looking.  
For the crew, they were mostly all ok and still in a usual to higher price range.  
This yacht was a fucking goldmine. 

Hoyt was looking down at the passports with a big calculating smile.  
He was estimating just how much money this was.

Vaas couldn’t stop the small smirk forming on his lips.  
_Bingo!_  
“Told you I wouldn’t show up with a gift, if I didn't have something good.”

His smirk was answered with a pleased smile from across the desk.  
“Apology accepted. But do us both a favor”  
Hoyt opened a drawer at his side, before taking something and sliding it over to him.  
“and finally get your shit together, ok?”  
It was a piece of paper.  
“I’d really hate losing my favorite employee.”

Vaas picked it up and turned it around.  
A photo.

It took a good amount of control to not immediately crumble it in his hand.  
Vaas was staring at the photo in disbelief.  
He was looking down onto a picture of Jason crawling into, what looked like a tunnel beneath some fern.  
What made his blood boil, were the walls covered in graffiti in the background.  
He’d recognize those anywhere.  
Those were the walls of his compound.

_That’s how he got in._

Hoyt didn’t give him time to think.  
“Now. It’s getting pretty late, don’t you agree? Sam is waiting outside.”

This was his clue to get up and leave.  
Getting up from his seat, Vaas slipped the photo into his pocket.  
“Good night, Hoyt.” 

He was nearly out of the door, when he could hear the voice of his boss again.  
“Nice to see you, Vaas.”

Vaas wasn’t paying attention to the different privateers in the building on his way out.  
The picture didn’t leave his mind.  
First of: Who the fuck took that photo?!  
It didn’t look like Jason was aware of it.

His first thought was Buck, who honestly was the most likely candidate, but why would he keep it a secret for so long?  
Usually that fuckshit would use anything to rub it into Vaas’ face.  
So why did he wait?

Well it would explain why Buck had been acting like a little shit the entire time before the game.  
He knew Vaas would be shown this photo and get a slap on wrist for it.

The next problem was a bit more important than Bucks assholery:  
Jason got into his compound, his fortress, with a **fucking** tunnel!  
It at least explained how he got in unnoticed, but it threw more questions than it answered. 

How long was that tunnel there?  
How the motherloving **fuck** was someone able to dig an entire tunnel into his compound without **anyone fucking noticing**?!  
Whose fucking skin was he pulling off for this?!

Had Jason made it?  
If not him, who then?  
Who else knew about it?  
Were there more?  
How many people had been using them?

The realization came like another slap in the face.  
Did **she** know?  
Did his Reina know about this?  
Did she make the photo and gave it to Hoyt?  
**God fucking damn it!**

There was no way around it anymore.  
Vaas had to finally confront her about that night.  
They had not once talked about what happened. 

_”I still kind of feel that it is some sort of a hero-complex because of what happened back then.”_  
That was the only time she ever said anything about the entire thing and it was just to excuse his emotions. 

Well to be fair, Vaas never really said anything himself.  
Aside from telling her about all these weird things he was feeling since she saved him, the theme wasn’t brought up.  
Vaas tried to push the thought aside for so long, just because he didn’t want to think about it in detail. 

Knowing his guardian angel came to save him was nice and all.  
He cherished the memory..but it also meant she had been there. 

It meant Jason hadn’t been the only person to appear out of nowhere that night.  
She had broken into his compound, during the same time Jason did.  
Vaas knew she had been there and she knew that Vaas knew. 

Ever since he realized she hadn’t been a dream, everything in his mind screamed at him to find out what exactly happened, but there was this little voice telling him that he wouldn’t want to know.

It just didn’t make any sense.  
This woman was supposed to be his angel, his queen.  
And yet.. she could be the cause of many of his problems.

She was inked.  
She knew her way around.  
She had been living on Vaas island way longer than Jason.  
She had been in his compound and disappeared into thin air after saving him.  
If anyone could have helped Jason break in, it was her. 

But why? 

If she worked with Jason, **with Citra** , why did she save him?

Why stay behind and risk getting caught?  
Maybe so she wouldn’t be as fucked as Jason?  
But she obviously didn’t want to be found and once he did find her, she seemed to hope he forgot what happened. 

Maybe she was trying to get close to him to slip information to Jason?  
Or maybe to take him out herself?  
No, that didn’t make sense at all... 

She could have just let him die, if she wanted him dead.  
If Vaas would’ve died through the knife, Citra’s goal would have been achieved.  
All she would’ve had to do was let Vaas bleed out.  
If Liz would have been the one to kill him though, everything they did would have been for nothing.  
If his queen was with Citra, why ruin her plans?

No, no, no, no, no.. She wasn’t with Citra.  
There was just no way she would ever allow another woman in his life. 

Also if she wanted to be with him to get info, they wouldn’t be making these fucking babystepps.  
Not to mention her eyes would have given her away long ago. 

No, she had to be there for another reason.  
Maybe she knew what Jason was up to and wanted to stop him?  
Maybe she wanted to be his knight in shining armor from the beginning? 

There was really no way around it anymore.  
Vaas had to finally find out. 

Outside the night was rather chill. A slight breeze made the hair on his skin stand up with goosebumps.  
Looking up into the sky, Vaas couldn’t see a single cloud.  
The night was filled with stars.

Man.. being at the cliff would be really nice right now.  
They definitely had to do that again and this time Vaas wasn’t going to wake her up, she fell asleep.

Hoyt’s compound around him was rather silent, but that didn’t mean it was any less protected.  
Quite the opposite actually.

At night most privateers that were doing general work around the compound were sleeping and it would take them some time to join a fight, if anything was to happen.  
So Hoyt just doubled down on the guards at night. 

Every roof had at least one sniper.  
Hoyt’s building usually had a minimum of 4, because it could overlook the walls the best and every gate had multiple guards on duty.

Just from a point of numbers, there were double the sentinel guards at night, than at day, not even counting the snipers.  
Not to mention everyone was equipped with night vision.  
_Fucking Show-off._

Getting closer to the helicopter, Vaas could catch a bit of conversation.  
It was Sam and from the language spoken he would guess he was talking to his Nena. 

“-arl ist dir die ganze Zeit ganz schön im Nacken gesessen. Wäre mir auch unangenehm. Konnte ich nur leider Nichts gegen tun. Er hat seinen Job gemacht.” 

Something about this asshole talking to her and Vaas not being able to know what was said, made his blood boil.  
_Because why the fuck not talk in a langauge Vaas couldn’t fucking understand?_  
Go ahead, fucking exclude him from the conversation!  
These two got along _just fine_ , didn’t they? 

He would have to have a talk with his queen later.  
Vaas really didn’t like that she was getting along so well with one of Hoyt’s higher ups.  
Or frankly **anyone** working for Hoyt that wasn’t him.  
Yes, he specifically meant Buck.  
But this german motherfucker just had to keep talking didn’t he?

“Wenn wir schonmal dabei sind, was meinst du? Soll ich vielleicht versuchen die Verantwortung als Kontaktperson zu bekommen? Ich hab das dumpfe Gefühl Carl oder einer der Anderen könnte versuchen irgendeine Scheiße abzuziehen.” 

Why the fuck did he sound concerned?  
He had no fucking business being concerned about her!  
That was his fucking job!  
This was his fucking girl!

“Du bist ein echter Schutzengel. Weißt du das?”  
Vaas did not like the sound of her voice.  
It was so silent and.. fragile?  
What the fuck were they talking about?!  
Probably had something to do with the sounds of struggle coming from Buck’s pet.

There was a chuckle from Sam.  
“Ich kann aber Nichts versprechen.”  
Once Vaas finally got into eyesight, Sam spotted him, gave a nod and headed towards the controls.  
_Yes, go ahead and piss off you fucking stupid piece of shit!_

Inside the helicopter, Buck was trapping his new toy, between him and the wall.  
The guy had a bag over his head and just about every limp bound with zip-ties.  
_A bit overkill._  
His angel was sitting at the other end of the bank, next to the open door.  
Her bow was between her and the wall, while she was hugging the backpack on her lap.

While she did look at least a little bit better, Vaas wasn’t a fan of the lack of a smile and her blank stare to the floor, while making herself as small as possible.  
He was still pissed off pretty well, but.. not as much.  
There was a bit more concern in his system. 

The rotor blades started to turn and Vaas planted himself in the empty seat between Buck and his Reina.  
Sure, he could have sat down on the bench where injured people were usually laid down, but Vaas really didn’t want Buck to be the person next to her.  
Empty seat or not.

They took off and while he tried not to be too obvious in watching Liz from the corner of his eye, Vaas couldn’t help but frown, as she pushed herself even further against the wall, to create more space between them.  
Unfortunately they weren’t alone, so Vaas couldn’t just pull her in.

This was annoying and uncomfortable. 

Not the flying.  
Sam seemed to be a pretty good pilot and Vaas generally liked flying in helicopters.  
Fucking hell, he had 2 of his own!  
Well there used to be three, but _a certain someone_ made him blow the third one to bits!  
Vaas liked watching out the door and seeing his home from above.  
There was something calming about it.

The general atmosphere in the vehicle wasn’t his problem either.  
Though it could be a lot better. 

Right of him was a shivering mess of a person, staring down from the open chopper door.  
A lot less relaxed than him.  
Her face looked like they were about to crash land.  
Seriously.  
She had a fucking deathgrip on the handle next to her. Her knuckles were white as snow, arms shivering from the tension. 

Well at least that made him feel a bit better about her scooting away from him, although he really wouldn’t mind having her hold on to him.. just saying. 

In the front of the helicopter was their pilot, who looked back at the previously mentioned shivering mess a few too many times for Vaas’ taste.  
But he could forgive that, as long as it seemed Sam was piloting this flight as stable as possible to ensure whatever was happening right of him didn't get any worse. 

The problem came from his left, where the horny, australian, old man asshole and his little sextoy were seated.  
To be more specific, what was making this flight uncomfortable and just fucking annoying were the fucking sounds said horny, australian, old man asshole was giving from him. 

The muffled panicked noises, the sound of struggle, the little whispers of promises and threats and god fucking damn it, if he was going to actually fuck this guy in the helicopter, Vaas would throw them both out and say it was an accident.

Normally he wouldn’t give a flying fuck, but:  
A: this was Buck.  
B: they were flying and he was killing the mood.  
C: Vaas was right next to this fuckshit.  
D: He wasn’t helping with the situation right of Vaas **at all**.  
And finally: **This was Buck**.

It really wasn’t a secret that Vaas enjoyed silence during flights and this man was out to ruin the experience for him and everyone else.  
But no, Vaas wasn’t going to give him that satisfaction!  
Buck annoyed the shit out of him once already tonight and he was not going to give in again. 

Another glanze to the side and it seemed like his queen was seriously contemplating to just jump out and hope for the best.  
She got paler by the minute. 

_**Fine**._

“Can you shut up for like **five minutes**?!”  
If he had to take the bait to make this ass stop, then so be it. 

It seemed to work, because Buck was letting go of his little toy and turned his attention over to Vaas, with a big grin.

“What’s the matter, Mate? Is the puppy jealous he didn’t get a new chew toy?”  
He did **not** just call him that infront of her!  
_No, no. Patience._

Clenching his teeth Vaas pressed out a “No.”  
This caused the man next to him to laugh out loud. 

“Someone got a slap on the wrist. Eh?”  
Vaas glared at him.  
This guy just couldn’t stop messing with him, couldn’t he?  
“Hoyt busted your ass, didn’t he?”  
Buck made it really hard to be the bigger person right now.

“Just shut the fuck up! You’re ruining the eintire fucking mood!”  
With that, the conversation was over for him and Vaas went back to look out of the open Helicopter door into the dark night. 

Buck just chuckled like he won a prize and leaned back to his bagged pet, whispering loudly.  
“What do you think? How many fuck ups does he have left, till Hoyt finally empties a clip in his face?”

Vaas could feel his own blood starting to boil.  
Buck had found his sore subject for the night it seemed.  
Without even looking back Vaas just growled at him.  
“Shut the **fuck** up!”

Completely ignoring his words, Buck continued.  
“Can’t be that much more. You know? He can’t even take care of one little problem. And the best thing? It was his own damn fau-”  
“I said: **Shut. The fuck. UP**!” 

Vaas had swung around and smashed his forehead against Buck’s to stare daggers into the eyes of that fucking bastard cocksucker.  
His Voice had been so loud, it probably halled down to the island under them.  
The loud thumping of his heart nearly made him deaf for a moment. 

It was one thing when Hoyt talked down to him like that, but it was a completely different thing when Buck did it, especially in front of people. 

One was his boss, the other a living shitstain.

Buck was chuckling right back at him, completely ignoring the situation.  
“Fine, fine. I’ll be quiet. Don’t get your knickers in a twist.”  
This fucking asshole on his stupid high horse. 

Before he could say anything, he could hear Liz speak behind him.  
“Fahrer? Ich möchte bitte aussteigen.”  
She sounded pretty distressed and it pissed Vaas off even more. 

The fuck-a-face was ignoring her and just grinned back at Vaas. 

“Wir sind Zweihundert Meter überm Boden.”  
Sam's voice came from the front, but Vaas mostly ignored it.  
He couldn’t understand anything anyway.

Buck slowly retreated, but not before grabbing the junk of his pet hard enough to make the boy yelp in pain.  
“Shh~”  
The bag over his pet’s head was carefully patted like a dog while Buck was cooing where the ear would be.  
“Didn’t you hear what he said, honey? Shut up.”  
This stupid fucking- 

“Warum hab ich mich neben die Tür hingesetzt? Wenn die sich schlägern, flieg ich zuerst raus..”  
The sounds of more regret came from behind him.  
“Ganz ruhig. Die sind immer so. Wir sind gleich da.”  
For every word spoken in that fucking language, Vaas wanted to cut Sam’s tounge out. 

Turning back towards the open door, Vaas caught the glance his Nena was giving him, before her eyes snapped back to the ground and she shrunk even more in her seat. 

There was finally silence inside the helicopter, but honestly, Vaas couldn’t enjoy it anymore.  
They landed about 3 minutes later on the beach that faced the small island inhabiting his compound. 

His queen was the first to practically jump out, as soon as they had ground under the vehicle.  
While doing so, there was a barely audible whisper.  
“Danke für’s Heimbringen. Good night everyone.” 

**Oh fuck no!**  
She was not leaving without an explanation! 

Vaas jumped out after her and took a few big stepps until he catched up and placed a hand on her shoulder.  
“Not so fast, _Doc_. We’re not done here.”

His queen completely froze under his touch, throwing a panicked glance to him, before her eyes shot back to their surroundings.  
It hurt to see her looking back towards the helicopter, searching for help.  
Buck had flung his prize over his shoulder and was walking past them towards the scavenger on the street, grinning like a madman.

“Don’t look at me, girl. No need for me to interrupt this time.”

Somehow Vaas had to grin.  
This was perfect.  
After all, Buck was the last person he would want to know about them and the man was setting him a scene to play out.  
He just watched him throw the bound man into the passenger seat, with a big smile.  
“Happy initiation, sheila!” 

The helicopter took off again, flinging sand around them, for a moment.  
Vaas used her movement, which was meant to shield her from the sand, to let go of her and put his arm around her other shoulder instead. 

“Exactly. We’ve got to pick up where we left off earlier.”  
When the dust settled, Vaas turned them both into the direction of the sea, where a RHIB was waiting for him to return home and began walking, effectively dragging her along.

The best way to keep Buck from finding out, was to treat her just like everyone else.  
“Of course, _Doc_ , if you’re too tired, i have a lot of space to spare~.”  
The shivers were back.  
God it felt weird..  
But as long as it helped getting that asshole off their tail, Vaas was ok with it.

Behind them the engine of the scavenger started and Buck drove off.  
They were just a few feet from the boat, when Vaas wasn’t able to hear the car anymore.  
One look over his shoulder just to make sure and he was able to let go of the breath he never noticed he held.  
“Fucking _finally_ that motherfucker is gone.”  
They were finally alone. 

Now how was he going to start this conversation?  
First off, he should probably address the issue with, oh you know, **everyone else** getting more trust and information than him!  
Afterwards he would just show her the photo and demand answers.  
There was no way she didn’t know something. 

Lost in thoughts, Vaas had stopped the two of them right at the edge of the water.  
The sea greeted them with the dark abyss.  
Without the helicopter and the scavenger, there was no light aside from the moon.  
Another cold breeze blew past them, carrying the fresh salty air. 

This was kinda romantic, wasn’t it?  
Standing at the shore, in the middle of the night with just the two of them in the moonlight.  
Holding each other while staring out into the open sea.  
Or well.. Him holding her and staring more towards his compound, but same difference!

But things still had to be done, so Vaas let go of her shoulder and let his hand glide over shoulder plate and neck.  
Originally, Vaas wanted to move his hand towards her cheek, but the second his palm came into contact with the back of her neck, his queen seemed to be ripped from her trance, flinched and immediately used her new freedom to back away from him. 

It wasn’t far, just maybe 2 steps, but to say it pissed him off, was still an understatement.  
Her right arm was holding onto her left elbow, while that hand was clutching the fabric of her camo pants.  
It was a failed attempt to keep her shaking under control.

Why the fuck was she so scared?  
Sure she looked tired and sick earlier, but that was all because of Hoyt and Buck, right?  
There was no reason to be afraid now that they were alone.  
It was just him, remember?  
Vaas fucking hated it, when she ran away from him.  
They talked about this already.

Fuck.  
She wasn’t even looking at him!  
Vaas could tell, even with the lack of light.  
Her eyes seemed glued to the ground around his boots.  
The silence didn’t help either. 

He tried to take a step closer, but she just backed away.  
It was quite the effort with his current mindset, but he tried to soften his voice.  
“Hey. Look me in the eyes.”  
Nothing.

OK.  
“I said look me in the fucking eyes!” 

He gave her 5 full seconds, before Vaas shot forward to grab her face and make her look at him.  
The amount of emotions he could see swirl around behind her eyes, seemed like they were just about ready to break the dam.  
There was panic, fear, anger, distress and confusion looking back at him, all coated in a layer of tiredness and sickness.  
This didn’t look good, but he just had to clear this. 

_Just rip the bandaid off already._  
“We need to talk.” 

Vaas expected a lot of things, for her to start crying, freezing up even more, yelling or even just plain falling unconscious, but you could honestly call him surprised, when her entire face went into a neutral state.  
“Would you excuse me for a minute, please?” 

He wasn’t quite sure what it was, the sudden change in character or the fact that she stepped towards the shoreline in the direction of his compound, but Vaas let her go.

His queen walked over to the water and onto a few rocks, before she fell on her knees with her back to him.  
At first Vaas wanted to join her at the rock, because something about this gave him a bad feeling, but he was literally startled by what followed.

Liz had flung her head back, loudly taking a giant breath of air, before plunging her head into the ocean and screaming like someone took 4 sledgehammers to all her limbs at once.  
And yes. He had a reference for that.  
There were bubbles floating up violently, as if the water was boiling around her head.

While the water silenced it pretty well, he could still hear it at a decent volume a few feet away.  
_Jesus.._

After a good 30 seconds of muffled screaming, which was fucking impressive, her head shot back up out of the water, panting heavily.  
Her entire form looked pathetic and broken.  
Not going to lie.. now he felt kinda bad.

“Are you-”  
He got immediately shushed by a finger being held up.

Another deep breath, another 30 seconds of underwater screaming.  
God the sound alone...  
Normaly it was like music but fuck..  
It was painful to watch her kneel there.  
Her body was shivering all over and he could see her being shaken by silent sobbs.  
Every single step towards her, felt like he was walking on a bridge made from glass.  
If he moved too fast, she might break under him. 

A good minute went past, in which his angel was catching her breath, panting, before she slowly got up and turned back to him.  
She looked like a mess.  
Her entire head was wet, water dripping down on her clothes.  
Red eyes looked back at him and it was hard to tell if they were red from the saltwater or crying underwater.  
Same with the water on her face. 

What really took the cake though, was the big, fake smile looking back at him, trying to act as if this didn’t just happen.  
“Sorry about that. What did you want to talk about?” 

Now Vaas **really** felt bad.

God fucking damn it.  
From the moment he had seen her in Hoyt’s office she had looked tired, spent and sick and now his main issues were a stupid photo and conversations he didn’t even knew the contents off.  
There were hundreds of red blinking alarms going off in his brain.

Fuck this.  
He could put off talking about the photo and that night and all for just a little bit longer.  
No big deal, right? There was no stress behind it.  
They pushed it off for so long already.  
Another day or two won’t hurt them.  
Just not tonight...

It was subconsciously, but he had taken the last step towards her and put a hand on her cheek in a gentle manner.  
His queen was looking at him with big eyes and an obvious panik rising.  
And not only did panic start to rise in her again, he also got a good chunk of it. 

He just said they needed to talk.  
So Vaas, talk.  
Fuck, he needed a topic!  
He just threw the other ones out the window.  
What else was there to talk about?  
This was a very bad moment for his mind to black out. 

The longer he stayed silent, the worse his queen looked, so at one point he just spurted out the first thing that came to mind with the most caring voice he could manage.

“Do you have my shit?”  
Vaas wanted to slap himself.  
_Really brain?_

Her face was first dumbfounded and confused, followed by slow realization, sadness and defeat.  
He could feel through the hands on her cheeks how her entire body was completely deflating like a sad balloon.  
“Right.. that.” 

“Did you forget about me?”  
Maybe speaking playfull wasn’t the smartest thing, but Vaas was running out of options.  
He was used to taking advantage of people in these kinds of states, not comforting them.  
Well, he already ruined his attempt. Might as well commit to the bit, now.

“No.”  
There was a sigh and her eyes started avoiding him again.  
“It’s at the mansion.”  
He really didn’t like the crack her voice had gotten in the middle of that sentence. 

Shit..  
No, wait.  
He could use this!

“Should i get us there? I can organize another scav.”  
Vaas should really get her home anyway.  
His queen was done, out of it and just in general in no condition to get anywhere alone on an island full of potential death.  
Not like this.  
They could still talk about something harmless during the drive. He’d just go slower than usual.  
Vaas just had that strong urge to get her somewhere, where she would be safe for the night and unfortunately his place was out of the question for now. 

“I.. was hoping to.. um. i..”  
God she looked fucking awefull. 

Vaas hated this.  
He needed answers and she was so close to a breaking point, that he could get everything he wanted.  
Just one more push and she’d be over the edge.  
It was so fucking tempting to do..  
Every small change of feature on her face was another bad indicator and step closer to make her cry.

At one point he had enough.  
With a quick movement he grabbed her and trapped his queen in a tight hug.  
One arm around her back, the other at the back of her wet hair with his chin gently snuggling the side of her head.  
“Por favor no llores, mi alma.” (Please don’t cry.) 

At first she tried to push against him, but the fight only lasted for about 10 seconds, before her hands started to claw into the back of his top, holding on for dear life.  
There was a big sob shaking her in his arms. 

“Vas a estar bien.Todo está bien.” (You'll be ok. Everything is ok.)  
This felt so good in such a weird way.  
Back in the greenhouse it already felt like this, but now it was a lot more intense.  
Like on autopilot his hand started to gently rub her back.

“It’s ok. It’s ok. Estoy aquí. Te tengo.” (I’m here. I’ve got you.)  
Something just felt so weirdly familiar about his own actions and words, like he heard them before.  
But it didn’t matter right now.  
“Tranquila” (Something like “calm down”)

She tried so hard not to fall apart and while he appreciated it, something deep inside was roaring at him for being happy about it.  
It was the same feeling he had back in the greenhouse.  
His queen hadn’t fully cried back then either. It had just been sobs like now, trying to hold herself together.  
Something, just the tiniest voice, in Vaas wanted her to just let it all go, no matter how annoying it would be to deal with. 

Another breeze hit them and he couldn’t help but notice the shiver going down her spine.  
“Bad Town?”  
His place was out of question and the mansion just generally seemed like a bad idea after his stupid question.

There was a nod on his shoulder.  
So Bad Town it was.

“There’s a patrol point a bit south of here, by the bridge.”  
It was one of the street blockades he tasked the new men with on their first night.  
You know? Start them easy with an all nighter close to base and on the beach, before throwing them into the jungle and tiger territory.

“You wait here and I’ll go get a scav.”  
Placing a small kiss on the wet hair, Vaas could taste the seasalt.  
He wanted to let go, but there was a shake of her head.  
“You want to walk?”  
A nod.  
Somehow this brought a smile to his face. 

“That is ok. I’m not letting you walk alone though.”  
A nightly walk sounded nice as well. 

The silence from her seemed like she wasn’t a fan of his idea.  
That or she hadn’t managed to get her composure fully back. 

“You know? I got to make sure you stay safe and healthy and alive.” 

It was her pride wasn’t it?  
She knew that she wasn’t able to defend herself in a state like this.  
Tired, confused and scared.  
Maybe he should lighten the mood?

“Remember. I like you, like I like my wine.”  
Vaas made a short pause, playing with a few strands of wet hair, before delivering the punchline.  
“Breathing.” 

As first there was silence, but then a muffled giggle found its way to his ears.  
_Good._

They stood there for maybe another minute before Liz took a step back and wiped her eyes a little.  
“Fine..”  
They started to walk and while she still didn’t look at him directly, it was somehow a lot easier to accept now. 

What sounded promising, turned out a lot harder than he thought. 

Walking together was nice and Vaas enjoyed walking over his island in an offroad kind of fashion, but every time he tried to hold hands, something came to interrupt him.  
Animals moving in the lush, car light’s making them disappear into the shadows or just random patrols of men. 

Not only that, but they weren’t exactly talking or even walking next to each other.  
His queen had decided to take the lead and Vaas kind of felt like he was just tagging along behind her. 

On top of that, he got a bit more annoyed everytime she led them past a barricade or patrol of his men.  
Vaas had to have a word with everyone.  
These idiots made it so fucking easy for them to get by unnoticed. 

But yes, it was still a nice rush to use the jungle as cover from his own people, actively not wanting to be spotted.  
When was the last time he moved like this?  
It was a little surprise to himself, but Vaas found himself to miss it a little bit.

Once they were, maybe another 10 minutes from Bad Town, he had enough from the silence and just following her around.  
They were on a patch that was kind of like a blindspot for the passing patrols.  
He planned it like that on purpose, because it was also a territory of tigers.  
Anyone able to pass by them, would eventually end as dinner for the cats.  
Vaas sped up for a moment to grab a hold of her hand.  
Originally, he was going to say something, but Liz beat him to it.

“How is your shoulder?”  
She still wasn’t smiling, but at least she sounded like she actually cared.  
You know, next to the tired monotony of her voice.  
“Oh?”

“I wanted to ask the other day.. Sorry. I forgot after-”  
She stopped for a second, looking uncomfortable, before continuing.  
“I was supposed to tell you, you should come back in a week for the stiches.” 

Smiling down to her, Vaas squeezed her hand in a loving manner.  
“It’s a lot better, thank you.”  
Lifting it up he placed a kiss on the back of her hand, whispering into it.  
“I had someone very talented take care of it.” 

Instead of taking the compliment, her shoulders slumped even more.  
“Oh… good. Did they redo the stitches? Alec told me I used the wrong page and method for that kind of wound.. It’s going to scar the way I did it… I’m sorry.” 

This woman just couldn’t give herself credit, couldn’t she?  
For a first try, it was a pretty clean stitch and Vaas wouldn’t mind another small scar.  
He had looked at it every time he changed the bandage and it was definitely better than anything he or his men ever stitched together.

“Hey, it would look a lot worse if-”  
Silence.

Both of them had stopped dead in their tracks at the same moment.  
There was just the slightest of rustling in the lush to Vaas right side, where his queen also was.  
Tiger.  
Maybe 50ft (15m) from them.  
It wasn’t going for them, yet, but it was stalking towards the same direction as they were going.

For just a moment, it felt like they were thinking as one.  
Both him and his queen had started to slowly let go of the others hand.  
While Vaas took out his gun, Liz had unsheathed her machete.  
Not a good choice of weapon against a tiger, in his opinion, but maybe she didn’t have the energy for her bow right now.

There was just one thing, he wanted to change about their position.  
Grabbing her by the wrist, given her hand was holding the machete, Vaas slowly pulled his queen past him, until she was on his left side and he effectively between the jungle cat and the easier meal of them.  
Sure, she had the close combat weapon out, but his queen wasn’t in any shape to fight a tiger.

The second he cocked his gun, the metallic sound made the Tigers head look over to them and Vaas locked eyes with it. 

With his free arm holding on to his queen’s waist he pulled her against his side.  
_Fuck off pussycat. This is mine._  
It didn’t move for a good 10 seconds and Vaas started to keep walking in his path, effectively having Lisa walk with him and never breaking eye contact with the tiger while keeping the gun ready. 

As soon as the tiger made a single move that wasn’t away from them, Vaas shot and hit it at the shoulder.  
Unfortunately for them, the tiger didn’t get the hint and instead started to charge them.  
Unfortunately for the tiger, Vaas only needed three more well placed bullets, till it dropped at about 15ft (4,5m) from them. 

Looking down to his side, Liz was staring in surprise at the dead jungle cat whispering.  
“That.. went a lot better than usual.”  
_So cute._  
How was he supposed to stop himself from pecking a little kiss on her forehead.  
“Oh please. That was nothing. I killed tigers with way less than that.”

Listening to the jungle around them, you could already hear the car of the closest patrol approaching.  
So at least they still investigated random gunshots in the night. Good.  
The car sounds were followed by another whisper.  
“..I need to leave.”  
“No, we.” 

They kept walking, leaving the tiger behind.  
Vaas was sure they would bring it back to the compound in the morning, bragging about having killed a tiger and trying to sell it to Vaas so he could sell it further.  
He wasn’t going to lie, just from the looks this tiger was really pretty.  
That thing was sure to be sold as a nice rug.  
He could play that game for once.

Once they were close to the clearing that held Bad Town, Lisa untangled herself from his hold.  
Probably in case anyone saw them, which was very unlikely, but in these times you could never know.

“Why did you shoot? It would have left.”  
How did she always do this?  
Her question didn’t carry an accusation. 

He had just let go and already there was the urge to just scoop her up and walk home.  
But unfortunately a deal’s a fucking deal.  
“Didn’t want to take chances.”  
Vaas couldn’t stop the chuckle.  
“Turns out, when you let things run from you, they’ll come back to kill you.”  
“Oh..”  
There was suddenly an uncomfortable silence around them.  
_Awkward._

“The fucking point is, i don’t give a fuck who i kill, as long as it means i am keeping my promise of getting you home safe and sound, ok?”  
Fuck the distance and possible sightings, Vaas gave her another Hug.  
“Everything else doesn’t fucking matter. Mataría mil tigres por tí" (I'd kill a thousand tigers for you.)  
All he got as an answer was a sigh and a weak hug back, that got interrupted by a deep yawn. 

Wow.  
Vaas hadn't been in or even seen Bad Town for a good.. 3 years?  
Nothing really changed.  
It was still as run down and shitty as he remembered.  
Not that he would care.  
Thinking of it.. there were a bunch of small places on the island he hadn’t been in a long time.  
Mostly because he never really needed to or gave a damn, but still, it felt weird. This was his island after all.

They were looking down onto the small shanty town, with the dirt path leading down the slope towards the small bridge before them.  
It was dark besides the very few lights inside a hand full of shanties and the big red neon sign on top of the brothel. 

This was it.  
They were here.  
This was goodbye for now.  
Until tomorrow, when he could go to the mansion.  
.. If she was there.

Maybe just a few more minutes.  
Just a little bit longer.

“You know, you did pretty well tonight.”  
Just one last conversation until he had to be alone again. 

Just one more and he’d let this beautiful and confused looking set of eyes rest.  
“Why do i feel like we didn’t play the same game?” 

God, even tired she was amazing.  
“Yeah, you fucking suck at poker, but it was still fun.”  
He had to laugh a bit about it.  
“I mean in general. Other people would have lost their shit a lot sooner than you did. I like that, no, I respect that.” 

Finally.  
Not only was she finally looking back in his eyes on her own accord, but there was also just the smallest of smiles on her face again.  
“Thank you.”  
Vaas just smiled back at her, trying not to get lost in the sight. 

It was such a nice moment.  
Them, here together, after a long day.  
Just standing and talking and staring into each other's eyes.

Until it wasn’t.  
Why did they stop talking?  
Why was this getting so weirdly uncomfortable?  
But like awkward uncomfortable.  
But also, somehow, in a weirdly kind of good way?  
What was going on?

Over their silence a small blush had formed on the face of his queen.  
She was playing with the hair in her neck. 

“Well.. It’s getting pretty late.. I guess i should..”  
Liz was stumbling over her words, while she pointed at the rundown town.

“Oh right, yes uhm..”  
For some reason there were a few small and nervous laughs pressing themselves out of his mouth.  
Did he just _”Uhm”_?  
Why was this so uncomfortable all of a sudden?!  
What was happening?

“So.. uhm.. See you tomorrow?”  
He just did it again!  
What the fuck?  
It was like he had an entire flock of birds in his stomach, going wild. 

His question was answered with another blushed up stumble.  
“Uh.. uhm s-sure? Maybe?.. Don’t know yet when I’ll be at Alec’s.”  
Now it was her time to have an unsure laugh.  
“Kinda.. wanted to sleep in tomorrow.. maybe just do nothing at all.. just a.. You know? like a charge up day?” 

Before Vaas could answer anything, there was a gunshot in the distance, followed by a few more.  
_Oh thank fuck! Get him out of this!_

“And that is.. my clue to go.”  
With that Lisa took a step to the side.

Vaas was at a loss of words.  
So he just nodded a bit, mumbling.  
“Yeah.. probably should… maybe. Yes.”

God he felt so weird.  
Make it stop!

“Well.. uhm.. good night Vaas. Sleep well.”  
With one last look at him she left, making her way down the dirt path.

It was weird to let her walk away, but Vaas stayed in his place.  
He had to sort his brain and his god damn stomach, before he could do anything.  
Taking one deep breath, he wiped his hands over his face.

It was burning hot.  
Why was it hot?  
Did he fucking start to blush??  
When?  
Why?  
What?!  
It took nearly an entire minute of deep breaths until Vaas could think of something else.

_Fucking focus up, man! You’re not done for tonight!_  
Right.  
He still had to make sure she got home safe. 

Looking back down towards the town, he could see her cross the bridge and make her way through.  
The only other people outside were all close to building with the red neon light. 

At first Vaas was getting nervous about what could happen when one of those guys got the wrong idea.  
Luckily though, his queen took a turn and crossed the muddy stream into the part of Bad Town that was completely unlit.  
The lack of light made it hard, but Vaas was still able to spot the shanty she walked up to.  
Good to know for the future.  
He watched her go inside and close the door behind her. 

The flock of birds was finally under control and with a smile, Vaas made himself on the way back home, after whispering something towards the small building.

“Duerme con los angelitos, mi amor”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That moment when you sit down to write the last two "Short scenes for the chapter ending" and all of a sudden it's over 6 hours later, you should really go to bed and the chapter somehow got a bit more than 2000 words longer.  
> Whoops.
> 
> Turns out Liz wasn't the only one to have a talk with Hoyt.  
> And not the only one seeing photos they weren't aware off. 
> 
> Also i always wanted to have a moment where someone just presses the pause button on a situation to scream in peace.  
> So if that felt weird, sorry about it. Just had to.
> 
> Idk why, but i figured the parting after the third first date also went a bit too smooth for our little lovebrids.  
> i was so tired and had the super strong urge for the awkward.  
> idk. I think it fits. 
> 
> Also Liz likes horrible jokes. It's canon now.  
> Be prepared to roll your eyes in the future. 
> 
> Anyway as always i hope you all enjoyed!  
> Would love to hear what you all think!   
> And once again giant thanks to VnzlHills for the spanish bits!   
> It's been a few chapters without any and i am really happy and so thankfull for every time you help me with this! 
> 
> Anyway this is getting too long.   
> I am going to bed now.  
> Good night and stay safe in the chaos of the world. 
> 
> Love and virtuall hugs,  
> Me.


End file.
